Write It Down in HERstory….
October 10, 2011 by Teresa Journeys Home
A few months ago I signed up to walk my first 5K. Not just any 5k, but the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K in South Florida. The seed was planted when my teacher Arynette Neal told me about the walk, and that she and another friend Amy Mills were walking. I wanted to walk for the cure, too. At the time I was living in Rebeca Forrsel’s home and wanted to do something good and positive for Beca and all she was doing for me, like providing a space for me to stay while I attended massage school. Beca’s mom had died years ago from breast cancer and many times Beca had shared with me HERSTORY.
- Can you see the LOVE?
That night after class I went home and signed on to walk. My team name Miss Dolly Walks, my consisted of me who would put on the Pink Bra and walk my first 5K and my blog readers and FB page members and other friends. Donations started coming in, the seed was being nurtured and growing.
Even the "youngin's" walked...making strides against breast cancer
During the months that I raised money for the walk, I got to hear a lot of HERSTORY. Many of the people who donated ARE survivors, others family members of people affected with Breast Cancer. This led me to ask myself why I am so “touched” by this DIS-ease. Who in my family had battled breast cancer? In my immediate family parents, grandparents, sibling, aunts and uncles, I don’t recall anyone being diagnosed with it.
When I worked in home health I had a patient with breast cancer that had a bilateral mastectomy. Her cancer was severe and it seemed they had cut her flesh away to the bone. When I would go to her home to change her dressing, and do wound assessments ect, I would imagine that with each touch, I would cause her no pain, but help her wounds to heal. Generally while I was doing the visit itself I would hold a straight face. On the drive to my next patients home, I would cry. My prayers were not answered and my beautiful young patient died, leaving behind a husband, and a young daughter. HERSTORY will always live in my heart, and so with love that I gave and received with each visit to her home.
Paving the Way for a CURE.
Every year at Christmas since 2006 I have made a donation for breast cancer research. I have done so in a womans name that I have never met. She died before I met her. Her daughter and I were very close friends, and when my friend and I would travel, we would always say her mom was traveling with us in spirit. Over those years I learned both of ther HERSTORY’s, and how their lives were affected by breast cancer.Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take…but by the moments that take our breath away!
Breast Cancer affects many… not just the person with cancer, but also their families, and those who love them.
As I drove to Downtown Los Olas, seeing the beautiful yachts, and the water of Florida’s amazing inter -coastal. I realized how I see things through different eyes now. It’s been awhile since I have gone to Los Olas, but when I used to go, it was for an expensive hair cut in the salon, eating at a fancy 5 star restaurant, a day of watching yachts float by (dreaming of owning one someday), or attending an open house of one of the local mansions (again dreaming of owning one someday).
My Life at it's finest.. isn't about money, it's about love...
This visit to Los Olas would be different…this time instead of thinking about how someday if I work hard enough I might have enough money to live in a mansion, drive a Mercedes, and own a Yacht….it would be about my authentic self, and what I stand for in life.
When I arrived at the park, I could not find my friends, probably because I was running a little late. It didn’t stop me though I walked anyhow, beside many people who were making HERSTORY. There people of many nations there, I saw men, women, children of all ages, and even a couple of dogs. I felt like I was hearing people’s stories, without even a word being said.
Front of her sign says "Doing it for Deb" Back of the sign says I AM DEB! She is making HERSTORY
2 Males, father and son, angel wings, and Breast cancer awarness ribbons... I Believe they too are telling "HERSTORY"
Why did I walk? I walked for the empowerment of women (and those men diagnosed with the disease) all over the world as they fight this DIS-ease and heal.
Thank you to those who sponsored me, your kindness was so appreciated. I will walk again.
My team Miss Dolly Walks raised nearly $500., it consisted of me walking with traveling Dolly, and all of YOU who donated to the cause or supported the team in other ways.
Thank You To My Donors! |
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Beth Brilla Reta |
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Joanne Smith |
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Kathy & Rich Wiedemann |
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Liese |
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Marcia H Kaplan |
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Mary Kennerly |
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Mrs. Claudia Ezman Kujawski |
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Susan and Gordon Teller |
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Beverley Mucciardi |
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The Fagen Family |
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Tonia Parker |
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3 anonymous donors |
Thanks to each of you…who gave money, or support during this campaign…
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