Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It’s October! And you know what that means…Breast Cancer Awareness Month. My living location may have changed but my mission has stayed the same. This fight with this disease is far from over so no rest even for the weary. It is estimated that in 2015, 231,840 women will be diagnosed with new cases of invasive breast cancer and there will be 40,290 deaths due to this disease. We know statistics very well as we became one in 2009 and another in 2011. I think that is what pushes me to work harder. I think that is why I can’t just walk away. I don’t want someone else to feel the way I fell or have to live the way we have lived. I am tired of sons not having mothers to dance with on their wedding day or daughters developing into a woman alone. Breast cancer has taken too many amazing people from us. It took my mother.

I thought the hardest part of losing her in 2011 was over. You know the initial shock, the grieving period, the learning how to live without her. I thought that once I got through that life would be set on cruise control. Oh little did I know how foolish that was. No one tells you that each new event in your life would bring you right back to square one. Back to that spot where you have to learn how to do it without her. A wedding, the birth of a child, work problems, relationship issues…it doesn’t matter. Whatever makes you think that she would have the answer brings you back to the beginning.

I am 25 weeks pregnant with my first child. The questions I have that my friends and google can’t answer, I know that she would know. My mother had a way of encouraging us through any situation and sometimes I need that just to make it through each day. I am relearning how to live without her in an area that I truly need her. But I know she would be happy, she would love the fact that she is having a granddaughter. And I know that we will get through this because we made it through before thanks to God, family and friends. This will be just another journey for this girl with a ponytail.

Getting close

We are getting close to A Date 2 Remember. Will you be at the LC Pavilion on February 22??? I hope so because I found out my experience package last night...and let's just say it will be a once in a life time chance to see me not just take a step outside my box but to also smash it to pieces. Stay tuned!!!

Check out the facebook page for lots of updated info:

https://www.facebook.com/date2remember

A Date 2 Remember

Stepping outside of your box to help someone else...that's one of the hardest and scariest things to do. But I have determined that my passion lies in helping others, whether it is working the Race for the Cure, talking to people about breast cancer, or simply raising money for a good cause that's what I enjoy doing. So when a friend told me to apply to be an on-stage participant in the Columbus Young Professionals premier social fundraising event, I jokingly said "OK but they won't pick me". Little did I know less then 3 weeks later I am knee deep in preparing for A Date 2 Remember that will be held February 22, 2014.

This event is a fashion show combined with a live auction containing amazing "experience packages". What's an experience package? Well this years packages haven't been released yet but last year they had a "Get Wild with Us" package complete with 4 tickets to the Columbus Zoo, behind the scenes/up-close and personal tour with the animals, 4 tickets to The Wilds, and 4 tickets to Zoombezi Bay with Cabana rental. They also had a "Salute Your Sports" package that included a OSU bracelet from the Diamond Cellar, 4 tickets tot he Nationwide Children's Hospital 200, a behind the scenes tour of Ohio stadium, 4 tickets to a Columbus Crew game, 4 tickets to a OSU women's basketball game, 4 tickets to a Ohio Machine game, and throwing out the first pitch at a Columbus Clippers home game. Needless to say these packages aren't just your everyday dinner with friends and a movie, they are things that you can't buy (well unless you are super rich!!).

But what I love the most about all of this is every year the money raised will go to a Columbus area non-profit. Since starting 6 years ago the CYP has raised more than $200,000 for A Kid Again, Capital Area Humane Society, City Year, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Flying Horse Farms, Junior Achievement, Miracle League, United Cerebral Palsy, and the United Way of Central Ohio. The 2014 charity will be the YP360, a new non-profit that supports the development of the next generation of leaders while strengthening the community of Columbus.

I am super excited about taking part in this adventure that requires me to step outside of my protective box and help others. I am even more excited about being able to share this experience with friends and family. If you would like to attend the event please see me for discounted tickets. I have tickets for $25 (if paying with check or cash) and $26.50 (if using a credit or debit card). If you would like to purchase the ticket from me using a card please click on the "Buy Now" button and enter your payment information. If you would like to pay with check or cash we can arrange a time to meet or I can send you my mailing information. VIP tickets are also available for $50.00 each.

I hope that you all can attend because I would love to be able to look out in that crowd of 1,200 people expected to attend and see smiling faces of people I know!!

For more info about the event and to see pictures from previous years check out:
http://date2remember.org/

:-)