Sooooo...thinking about my first post and what to write has not come to me like a bolt of lightning as I hoped it would. Perhaps I am not as clever and quick-witted as I like to think I am. Or maybe my life is just reeaallyy boring. Either way I figure I need to take the plunge and just write something.
So here I go.
And honestly, this is very lazy of me because I wrote this awhile back. Like two months ago.On good old-fashioned paper and a quill dipped in ink. But even though it is not October anymore I still think it's important. It's something that has become very important to me personally. I honestly can't say why or how it started but it has become a passion in my life. At the way too old age of thirty-seven I decided to go back to college and pursue my dream of becoming a nurse. My ultimate goal is to work with pediatric cancer patients. They are my heroes.
Anyway here's what I wrote.
I live in one of those little towns that has a "Main Street" lined with quaint little shops and restaurants. There is always an event taking place from a farmers market to a car show to a concert. It is a fun street that has something to offer for everyone.
As everybody knows October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Nowhere is this more apparent to me than on this street. Pink lights are strung overhead from building to building, large pink bows adorn trees, storefront lighting has gone temporarily pink, and the question on every body's lips is "Are you Pink"? During the month of October the merchants on this street are supporting the cause in whatever way they can, donating money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. A bank will donate one hundred dollars for every loan closed. A jewelry store offers thirty percent off all pink jewelry and then donates the proceeds. A dentist will donate one dollar for each patient who wears pink to their appointment. I think that this is wonderful. It is an awesome show of support from so many in a fight against a horrible disease that has robbed millions of their mothers,sisters,wives,and daughters. It will be a glorious day when a cure is found and no woman ever has to lose her life to breast cancer again. But a cure takes research and research costs money and that's where the fund-raising and donations come in. So to my little town and all the others who dedicate the month of October to Breast Cancer Awareness I applaud you. You are doing a wonderful thing that is so important to so many.
Now let's backtrack a little...about a month or so...to September. Do you know what September is? The first day of school for your kids? A three day weekend for Labor Day? The beginning of autumn? September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The color of the ribbon for Childhood Cancer Awareness is gold. You might not know about this, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't. You can't go into Target and buy a gold toaster or knives with gold handles. The lid on your yogurt container is not decorated with a gold ribbon. And I've never seen anyone wearing socks to show their support for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Or maybe you just don't WANT to hear about it. It is,after all too sad and depressing to even think about. Who wants to think about little girls with no hair,children whose faces and little bellies are bloated from steroids,or a three year old who doesn't know his ABCs but can pronounce rhabdomyosarcoma perfectly? "Idontwanttohearaboutit" you might say quickly when the topic comes up. Maybe a friend of a friend's friend had a neighbor who knew someone who had a child who died from cancer. You don't want to know because it's too sad,maybe you have children and hearing that a child actually died has hit a little too close to home. But just because you close your ears and eyes it doesn't go away. Just because you ignore something does not mean it no longer exists. There are some parents not as fortunate because they can't ignore it. Not for one second. Because their child does have cancer. Or they did have cancer. But they died. Because life is not always sunshine and rainbows. Even if you like to think it is. Cancer is real,and kids can get cancer. And it sucks. Everyone needs to be aware of this.
So my question is this. How can I help Childhood Cancer Awareness Month be recognized? What can we do to get the word out? Is there any way that we can make an entire community come together and string gold lights from the treetops? How can we make it so that the question "Are you Gold"? would be understood by everyone? Every day children are diagnosed with cancer,every day children die from cancer and really it is not as uncommon as you may think. There needs to be more money,for more research so less children lose their lives to this disease. It has to start somewhere.
September of 2008 passed quietly without so much as a whisper of gold in my town. How about yours? Are you gold?
So now you have like 9 months to think about it. You can create an entire human being in that amount of time right? Stepping off my soapbox now and don't say mean things to me like I'm against Breast Cancer Awareness because I'm not.
And that's my first post. It's important to me. I hope it meant something to you.
