Through this journey, I've made some wonderful new friends and what I love about my friends is they all get along so my circle of friends just keeps expanding. One is Leanne. I met her through a mutual friend very casually and attended a fundraising event that it turned out her daughter had organized. August 17th was not only the day I got my biopsy results that set me up for surgery; it was also my friend Lori's birthday. She had called several times throughout the day to see what the surgeon had said, sure that I was fine. She had given me a healing stone that was given to her by Eleanor to help Lori through her bout of cancer and was convinced that would be my good luck charm too. I'm sure it will be but not on that day. I felt bad that I was going to have to answer her calls on her birthday so decided to tell her in person. So TeeTee drove me to her house and as I was telling her the news, Leanne came by on her way home from work to wish Lori a happy birthday. We were, of course, upset and Leanne asked what was going on.
We filled her in on my diagnosis and she shared she had lost a good friend to the same disease and she is determined to help me fight. Wow. Just like that. Two nights before my surgery, Leanne invited a group of friends, including me, to dinner to cheer me up and to cheer me on. It was a fun evening filled with laughter and promises by my friends to shave their heads with me, or for some, to add pink streaks to their hair. She and Ethel announced that night that they were going to put together a team to participate in the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 2nd. We are doing the 5K walk and we are all wearing as much pink as possible. We will stay in a hotel the night before and end the walk with lunch so we will all have an amazing time! We started out with ten women each trying to raise $150. This has grown to 30 participants and our team has raised over $3,500! Again, humbled and uplifted.
The team name represents the fact that my first name and my girls' first names all start with the letter K and I am doing this walk and fighting this fight for all three of us, hopeful that there will be a cure so they don't have to endure this in their future. The history starts with me so they have to be very aware and vigilant in their breast health. I want to set an example for them that no matter what life throws at you, you have to be strong and carry on, even if you don't think you want to; that even with a broken heart, you can't let life break your spirit because one day everything will work out.
This will be a fun day and I'm sure it will be very inspiring to be around all those other people fighting for the same cause and sharing their stories. We will be clothed, decorated and painted in pink at this great event!
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