Green Beans, Hate, Love and Cancer

When I was a little girl my mother did not allow me to say that I “hated” something. I could say that I “strongly disliked” something, but not the H word. I remember being so angry that she wouldn’t let me “hate” green beans, so I let her know very loudly that I “strongly disliked” them!

That was a long time ago and I am now a grown woman. My mom has been gone for over 20 years and I now use the H word frequently and it’s always in connection with cancer.

I HATE CANCER.

I hate what it did to my mother and to my friend’s mothers. I hate what it does to children. There are few things more gut wrenching than a child with cancer. Before I began writing this post I stumbled upon a blog about a little girl named Kate who has brain cancer.  Reading her story brought tears to my eyes and put an ache in my heart, not only for her but for her whole family. No child should have such a nasty disease. Even though I know that life isn’t fair, somehow childhood cancer takes unfairness to a new level. (You can read Kate’s story here but get a box of tissue first). http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

I hate the way cancer  sneaks into people I love and causes them to have to take medicine so strong that it makes them weak, nauseous and exhausted. I hate it that they loose their hair and often their appetites.

I hate that Shannon, Kim, Paulette, Liz (friend from college) and Marguarite had breast cancer and that it attacked my cousin Martha, not once, not twice, but three times.

There’s only one way to counter something as negative as hate and that’s with something more powerful….love.

I love the fact that every day there are really smart researchers working to find new medicines and treatments that aren’t as invasive or painful as the ones that exist now.

I love kind-hearted nurses and doctors who take the time to really listen to their patients and who offer empathy as well as hope.

I love prayer warriors who lift up those in need and ask God to hold those who are suffering in the palm of his hand.

I love that Martha’s hair is coming back and that she’s feeling better.

I love that Nancy Brinker was so close to her sister Susan (who was only 33 when diagnosed with breast cancer) that she made her a promise that would change thousands of  lives.

From the book Promise Me

Toward the end of Susan’s life she begged her sister to do something, anything, to make sure that other women with breast cancer would not have to suffer as she had from the ravages of this deadly disease.

“Promise me, Nanny,” she said. “Promise me you won’t let it go on like this.”

Her heart broken, Nancy promised: “I swear, Suzy. Even if it takes the rest of my life.”

At that moment, Susan G. Komen for the Cure was born.

You can read about it in the book, Promise Me. It is the story of how that vow launched Nancy on a thirty-year-long mission to change the way the world thought of, spoke of, and treated breast cancer. Brinker’s unparalleled success at turning $200 and a list of would-be donors into a movement that has saved the lives of millions of women was recognized by President Obama in August 2009, when he awarded Brinker the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “In the months after making that promise,” the President noted, “Nancy lay awake at night wondering if one person can really make a difference. Nancy’s life is the answer.”

I’ve said all that to say this….

This Saturday is October and it’s breast cancer awareness month. If you haven’t read any of my earlier posts about what I am asking you to do, I’m going to ask again.

1. Wear pink. I’m wearing something pink the whole month of October. Why? To show my support for the Susan G. Komen foundation, to support everyone who has had breast cancer, and to remind all my girl friends to get a mammogram!

2. Visit my NanaHood Friends and Family Team page and help us get the word out about what we are doing! If you have a blog…please blog about it. If you have a Facebook Page….please post the link to the NanaHood team page (http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR/PassionatelyPink/HeadquartersSite?px=10050132&pg=personal&fr_id=2263)and ask your friends to help. If you have a church bulletin, tell your church members about it and ask them to help.

3. Cupcakes for a Cure. Bake some cupcakes! Every week through out October I’m baking cupcakes, decorating them pink and selling them to help raise money. So far I’ve sold them at two banks, one factory and the chiropractor’s office. Every body loves cupcakes!

If you HATE breast cancer and LOVE someone who has it, you understand why I am passionately pink!

Who knew a pink cupcake could save lives?

So round up your pals.
And put on the pink.

at Nanahood’s Friends and Family Team