closer than ever

writing in this blog has fallen to the wayside as other things (not necessarily more important things) push through.

as part of my "2009 is the year that i'm actually going to change and get myself sorted out" plan, i'm not stressing about it, and i probably won't make up the entries.

it's been slow, donation wise, but i'm getting there. yesterday was a big donation day that pushed me over $2500, which was the first fundraising goal that i'd set when i'd signed up for the walk. and it came, relatively easily, and much quicker than i thought it would. my mom and i are basically on par with one another in terms of fundraising: we're both at around $2500+. so far we've raised over $5000 for breast cancer research, treatment and awareness programs. in a matter of months.

one thing that i've been thinking about recently is the statistic that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. honestly, i've been (curiously and morbidly) sort of wanting to count the number of women in my facebook friends list, just because i absolutely cannot wrap my mind around that fact, and about how many wonderful women i know who will be diagnosed with breast cancer, but i think that would just be extremely depressing. i don't like that i will know a bunch of women with breast cancer in the future. i don't like that it could be me. i don't like that sick, disgusting figure. 1 in 8. how horrific is that? how many women work in your office? live on your street? are sitting in the coffee house when you get a drink?

ONE IN EIGHT.

that's 1 in 8 mothers being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 grandmothers being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 sisters being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 aunts being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 cousins being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 best friends being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 wives being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 in 8 lovers being diagnosed with breast cancer.

1 IN 8 WOMEN BEING DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER.

what's more depressing is imagining all of the women that i'm friends with, and imagining them (or me) getting their diagnosis, the fear, the worry, the wondering. the vibrancy and vivaciousness with which they've been living their life is put on hold as they are slapped across the face with one of the most sobering reality checks: you have cancer. i don't want this to happen to anyone, let alone the people that i care about, the people that i've known for years and years, who i've laughed with, cried with, been a teenager with, been an "adult" with. i, selfishly, do not want to get an email in a few years that lets me know of their cancer. i do not want my heart, and their and their family's hearts, to break like that.

which is why i'm really focusing on this walk now. by raising money to teach proper prevention and self-testing methods, i can help lower that statistic. maybe it becomes 1 in 10 in the next 5 years. and then 1 in 20. and then 1 in 100. and then 1 in 1000.

and suddenly, instead of being a dread disease, it will be a disease at which the doctor says, "alright, come in next week and we'll get you fixed up, and you'll be ready to go on living your life!"

1 in 8 is not forever. 1 in 8 is not unchangeable.

1 in 8 is something that YOU can do something about.