Growing up you're taught the importance of family. I remember hearing on too many occassions..."Watch out for your sisters, and brothers." There are five of us, Of which, I'm the oldest. All my fondest memories from childhood, were of us playing "piggy" in our backyard, skating, and sledding down ," Big Hill Park". And, "sneaking" into the Park District Swimming pool, "after hours". There were other families in the neighborhood that we played with, but it was "always" family first. We would even "ditch" (now that's dating myself!) our regular group of friends when our cousins visited. We'd say to them, "We don't have to/want to/play with you, our cousins are here!" Family first...
Most of us spend our lives either, blessing or cursing the family we were born into. Many of us, throughout our lifetimes do a "little" bit of both. We love them because we are from "one" seed...Love for them is without question. In 2009, I gained "entry", membership into "another" family. We're not "strung" together by DNA. The common thread we share...We have all been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. And, our numbers keep growing....In my "new" family the membership includes women who are African-American...Hispanic...Asian...Polish...Jewish.... We are Rich...Poor...Literate, and illiterate. We work in "Corporate " America...as well as CLEAN the toilets in those same buildings. We celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah...Some of us don't "celebrate" any holidays at all. But, what we do have in common...We share this Breast Cancer Odyssey....These are the ties that BIND, my new family... I was feeling "restless" on this particular day. So, I decided to go Downtown, and do some window shopping...sight seeing. I chose to take the "scenic" route, and took a bus that traveled along North Michigan Avenue. I was "pretty" in pink. Had on a t-shirt, pin, and bracelet.I always wear something...As a reminder.Just like many dates in history...This is one I won't soon forget! A woman approached me on the bus, she had to be 60 to 70 years old, and of Jewish descent. She, said to me, "Nice you support the cause." I told her, "I do more than just support the cause, I'm being treated for Breast Cancer." With that she began to tell me "all" about what went right/ what went "wrong" with her treatment. That her son is a Doctor, and she could "afford" the best the "Medical Community" had to offer. And, yet we STILL shared the same struggles...We talked for over an hour. Race, Religion, Politics...None of this mattered. Here were two women, who otherwise, would have passed each other on the street- Without "uttering" a word to each other...But, this thread...This "single" experience we shared-"binds" us like "sisters" in our new "adopted" family. Unlike, the family we're "born" into-we're not "required" to put "family first". But-I've "yet" to meet one of my new family members, that didn't "stop" to share...Stop to talk, about their individual journeys-in hopes of improving yours. Two Families...One mission...Family First...These are the ties that bind...Until next time...
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