A couple of weeks ago, a big group of us participated in the Race for the Cure here in St. Louis. For those of you who may not know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer back in ‘03. I was in training to join the Army at the time. It was an awful experience, obviously, and it was really hard to be away from her for most of her battle. My mom has been the one stable, support system my entire life. She’s the only parent I’ve ever had. So when I called that day from Fort Meade, Maryland, and got the news, I was terrified. I was heartbroken. People told me the survival rate is good for breast cancer. She told me she caught it early – she’ll be ok. It didn’t matter. All I heard was CANCER. Nobody wants to hear that. Especially when it’s your mom – your friend. A mom who has always been there for me no matter what.

But she made it. She survived, and showed everyone how brave + strong she is. I’m so very thankful she is able to walk this race with us – that we could celebrate this triumph together. Because I truly don’t know what I would do without her. And I find it quite ironic that the race in St. Louis is always held either on or near her birthday. Fitting, eh?

So here she is. My mom. The survivor.
Love you!

Putting Tanya’s number on….

Aidan got a “In Celebration Of” paper, too.

In that enormous crowd, we just happened to find the super nice woman who signed us up at Mid Rivers Mall!

I think they estimated about 60K people there…This was the view in front of us.

And the view behind us…