Race for the cure

top: Cousins Katie and Julia(preggo..due in March yay!, Aunt Linda, Aunt Jeannie, Cousin Aaron and his gf Melissa, Mom

bottom: me and kiddos. FYI: Brad is taking the pic

We had a very busy weekend with a lot of running around. Saturday morning we had to be up at 5 in order to make it to downtown Portland(from Beaverton where we were staying) with enough time to get in lines for a bunch of free stuff before the walk started. I got pink underwear and a bag donated by macy's, a scarf, pins, stickers and a keychain. So it wasn't really about all the stuff..it was about being there to see what the whole thing was about. 

All of the survivors were wearing pink t-shirts and received pink roses at the end of the walk. They had their own tent for eating breakfast, visiting, etc in. It was great to see that so many woman were able to live on cancer free. At the same time, I could not help but wonder how long that would last because at one time my grandma had been declared cancer free, but it came back. Statistics say 1 in 8 woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer within their lifetime. This seems like a lot, so it is surprising to me that I personally don't know of any other families who have been affected by it. It was helpful to me to be around so many woman and their families who have felt the same pain I have and probably share the same fears as well. There was a tent with pink sheets of papers that said either, in memory of(if you lost someone) or in celebration of(someone going through chemo, or a survivor) where you put their name on it in marker and pinned it to your body. I saw lots of families with in memory of their mom and below mom it said aunt blank and aunt blank.  There were lots of people who had multiple family members names pinned to them. This is what scares me. 

I may be wrong about which people on my mom's side died from breast cancer but I believe my mom's grandma died from it, my mom's aunt, and of course my grandma(my mom's mom). So my mom and her sister's are high risk, making me and my two girl cousins on that side high risk as well. My mom gets mammograms yearly and each time they say that they have found something unusual and then she has to have a more in depth look which so far has turned out fine(thank God!) My mom's sister also had a mammogram last year which came out abnormal. In totally unscientific terms she has pre-pre cancer and is now taking medication which is supposed to keep it from turning into cancer. So basically I feel like I'm headed towards  having a life filled with uncertainty but I guess who doesn't?? 

Anyway..we had a good time. The walk itself really should not be called a race because it wasn't. We walked a mile in 40 minutes I believe. There were lots and lots of people and everyone was stopping taking pictures along the way. By the way, I did expect this. However, next year Brad and I think we might do the 5k run. Yes, we will be pushing the kids again(well maybe) and yes I will make Brad wear all pink:) All out next year.....