I usually lurk way more than I post, but October is very important to me.  It always has been & now it is so even more.  I will start out by saying that I am a Cancer Survivor.  I slightly resemble Tony Montana from the film Scarface, but as time has passed I have become more & more okay with that because the Scar is just proof that Cancer lost & 'I WON'

I will forewarn you that I am not a writer & as such this may be more difficult to read than most here are use to.  So please in this instance bear with me & I will do the best I can not to cost you brain cells...

My Great Grandmother raised me from birth until I was around 7, as far as I knew she was my Mother.  When I was very young Friday the 13th in October was a very happy day.  Odd I know now, but it was my Nana's birthday & just like cancer, Friday the 13th & Jason Vorhees were things I was yet aware of.  As I got older I learned a lot of things along the way, for one shockingly enough to me at the time my Nana's name was actually Margret, Jason Vorhees was very scary as a 9 year old, but watching my Mom (Nana) fight & fight & fight some more only to eventually succumb to the cancer was probably the scariest thing I have ever had to watch.  

This woman was born before the Wright Brothers put a paper plane in the air let alone flew one.  She had lived through Prohibition, The Great Depression, 2 World Wars countless others & when I would ask her about her Cancer & how it must hurt & other things a curious young boy would ask, she would just tear up & tell me she would trade hers for her daughters any day.  I didn't know what she meant until about 6 months later when My Great Aunt Barbie passed away at a mere 42 after losing her battle to Breast Cancer.  My Great Grandmother fought the exact same kind of skin cancer that I had 2 years ago for almost 20 years. One laser treatment at a time, they took over half of both her ears & scared her face "up one side & down the other" as she put it, but she would still trade her's for Barbie's.

No parent should ever outlive their child, that kind of pain is just incomprehensible.  I have a still young Wife & a very young daughter.  I can only hope that with enough awareness & courage from Men & Women all across the planet that I never have to watch my child go through what she had to watch Barbie go through.

With that said, please don't let the NFL's attempt to warm your heart go unnoticed, convince your Wife to get a screening.  If you are a woman past 35 stand in front of that mirror & tell yourself you are not afraid of cancer... that it should fear you.  The earlier it's found the better your chances of winning are.  My Great Aunt Barbie passed away in 1992 because she had no idea she even had Breast Cancer until it was to late to stop it.  Please for your sake, for your children's sake & yes even for your parents sake, heed the words below...

If 53 grown men are not afraid to ask for a little help in front of 60,000 people, you shouldn't be afraid to do it in front of one...           Go see your Doctor & get a screening.  It could save your life.

I love you Nana...   I hope the Roses in heaven are as beautiful as those that were in your garden when I was a child.

Thank you,

Benjamin