Open Rebllion!

October is here and that means Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So what does that mean to you? Do you put on your pink and think happy thoughts? Do you cry when you watch the ads or turn away tired of the hoopla?

Well, I can say I have seen and heard many different responses over the last 2 and a half years. Some have been inspired while others have been annoyed. But first I would say that before February 2006 I would have just thought to myself that I had time to think about the Cause. All that changed for me when at 32 years old I was diagnosed with TN Breast Cancer. Who would have thought? I sure hadn't. But the truth is this... Breast Cancer knows no boundaries. This disease attacks when you are least expecting it. Breast Cancer is not just a once a year thing, a nice cause wrapped up in a pretty pink ribbon. No, it is a beast, with large pointed teeth and sharp claws!

I wear my pink ribbons and think pink all through the year. But I know that the pretty symbol is just that, a pretty symbol. But Breast Cancer is more than that. The ribbon that represents our cause is just a way to get the world thinking about how deep this beast really goes. How terribly it can rip open your life and your body. Breast Cancer is a nightmare for all affected by it. Think about this: one in eight women will be diagnosed. That means one in eight families will be touched by the burden of the beast. More than One in eight children will have to walk down the many dark roads of this journey and fear the loss of their mothers. Think about all the husbands, mothers, sisters, brothers... now do you get the picture?

That's why I walk. I don't walk to make myself feel better, to raise a bit of money and then walk away. I don't walk because I feel obligated, although I do enjoy the idea of taking something back from the beast's lair. No I walk to fight, to throw a punch in the beasts face and to beat it back! I walk with my children because to do so means that I am still alive, still holding their hands. I walk with my husband beside me and my friends around me because to do so means that I am not just a memory but a living breathing part of their lives still!

Yes I wear pink but honestly I do not just sport my cute pretty pink ribbon just to say look at me. No I wear my pink ribbon proudly on my chest along with a skull and crossbones instead to express the true grasp of what Breast cancer is and can do. I stand in defiance, totally rebellious against this beasts attack! I am a survivor, a fighter and I will not go down without a knock down, drag out, hit him hard fight! Death is absolute in life for you can not have life without it. But I will not stand by idly and let this disease take my soul from me.

So again I ask, what does Breast Cancer Awareness month mean to you? Is it just a pretty pink ribbon all tied up in nice ideas? Or is it a time to run toward the monster, swords in hand and charge at this beast that threatens to devour us all? As for myself? I choose to be a part of the rebellion! I choose to wear my pink ribbon , but I also choose to wear it with my skull and crossbones! I will not give my life away, instead I will fight by my children's sides, and my husband's side, by your side and by my friends side! This year why not choose to fight this beast for the 11 months that follow October!

Christina

Tags: Breast Cancer, Pink Ribbons, Surviving

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