I mentioned in a previous blog that aflux would be going pink for October. Normally at this time of year I’m making cute little Halloween layouts (2005, 2004), but this year I felt I need to join this group.

Cancer, all different kinds, has touched my life in so many ways. Two grandparents, one of my best friends, two weeks ago my step-sisters father… all of them were taken by cancer. Recently I became friends at work with a breast cancer survivor. She’s never really gone into great detail about the fight and I’ve never really asked. I know from people that I’ve been close to that it’s something that you can’t really put into words and make somebody else understand. And after taking care of Ada while she fought every minute, of every hour or every day to stop time, to make it to the next meal, the next dose of medication, the next DAY… I don’t have to be told. I’ve never had cancer, but I know. I know the struggle because even though I didn’t HAVE it, I LIVED it for 12 hours a day, six days a week for three years. I was there the day it started, and I was there at the very last moments, when the pain stopped, and the life slipped away. I was there for all of it.

If ONE woman comes across one of the site’s that have gone pink and goes out to get a mammogram then it’s worth it. If ONE mom, daughter, sister, aunt is saved then it’s worth it. Early detection is a ticket to longer life.

For more information on National Breast Cancer Month, visit the Susan G. Komen Foundation.