On A Serious Note... Please Read

The “virtual” friends we meet by blogging are, as good, if not, better than some of our flesh and blood ones. Recently, I have read two posts that couldn’t be more powerful, more real, or more honest. My friend at, Dancing Through, has put up two pieces that definitely trigger all sorts of emotional responses. My post today is a tribute to her pure sharing, and to my wife, and to all those who have been, are, and will be affected by Breast Cancer.

While my wife may not be happy with this “tribute,” as she’s a very private person, I need to tell you how one person makes a difference. Hopefully, it will inspire you. I recently put up a post where I talked about teaching charity and compassion to our children; I said children learn from our actions and follow our lead; my children couldn’t have a better role model than their mother…

Here’s why:

For the past three years my wife has been participating in the Long Island 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer. 100% of the proceeds from this Walk stay right here on the Island. All the administrative costs for the Walk are picked up by the corporate sponsors. Long Island has the highest incident rate of breast cancer, compared to anywhere in the country… an ugly price to pay for living in paradise.

The Walk is a 2 day, grueling, 35 mile trek through eastern Long Island. In the three years since its inception the Walk has raised over a million dollars.

My wife walked this past summer, as she has done for the previous two years. Only this year she was almost 6 months pregnant with our second son, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and a predisposition for Preeclampsia. A condition she had with our first son, a.k.a. the Helper. That pregnancy ended in an emergency c-section, and our little baby boy spending over a week in the NICU, (feeding tubes and IVs). On top of that, we were told our beautiful baby was deaf and retarded, (my faithful readers know he’s neither, thanks to God’s answer to all our friends prayers). Editor's Note: She had been fully cleared by her doctors to participate.

Despite all this she walked. She fights this disease. She fights for her mother; a two time survivor. She fights for her mother’s sister; a beautiful woman who lost her battle. She fights for herself; someone highly predisposed. She fights for YOU, for me, for her children, and for all those who can no longer fight.

She does this for personal reasons, not for any glory or accolades. She never talks about it; it’s not in her nature. And, like I said, she won’t be happy with me for this post. My beautiful, strong, courageous wife is of Irish decent, 100%, and a Taurus (Yeah, I know… but I knew it going in). Her determination, commitment, and dare I say, stubbornness is what makes her a successful warrior in this battle for a cure. She has raised thousands of dollars with her steps.

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
-Sir Winston Chuchill

Thanks for indulging me today. Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. Thanks Dancing Through for your inspiration and your story. And, thanks to all of you who fight breast cancer everyday, you are indeed warriors with a noble cause. Finally, thanks to my wife, just for being who you are and doing what you do, I Love You!

Note: If you’re inspired to make a donation to Mary’s effort please CLICK HERE and mark the donation WALK. She will once again be walking this summer, June 9^th and 10^th, 2007… another 35 miles closer to a cure.

I promise a return to my anecdotal tales, musings, and rants as soon as something funny or annoying happens… should be in 3 or 4 minutes… stayed tuned.