I love Breast Cancer Awareness Month because this disease has affected so many women. Like other diseases, most people know someone who has struggled with breast cancer.
For the last 20 plus years I have been part of a group of six women from high school, who meet every spring for a weekend of fun. We go way back and have know each other since grade school. We usually meet in either northern or southern California, and one of these years, we’ll cross the state lines.
Two out of my six high school friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, within a relatively short time of each other. We are extremely grateful that they are both doing well and have passed their five-year mark.
Nineteen years ago, a close friend who was a fellow teacher at my school was also with breast cancer. She was only 28 at the time. My son was in her class that year. Again, she is doing well and has gone to be an amazing teacher at my former elementary school.
Several of my friend’s moms have had breast cancer, and I feel their concern as they wonder if this disease will affect them.
We are all well aware of the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Walk. Two of my three friends who are survivors have walked the breast cancer walk.
Walking the Breast Cancer Walk is on my Bucket list. I hope to do it soon.
We couldn’t do enough to spread the word about breast cancer, to urge more women to go in for their annual mammogram, to do a self check each month, and to generally be aware of the disease.
I recently flew to Atlanta on Delta. The airline was acknowledging Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The men wore pink ties. They even have a pink plane.
Last night I watched a football game on TV with my husband and sons. I noticed that the players had pink towels hanging out of their pants.
Kids are opening pizza boxes and seeing ads about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All of this is good!
We have another cause we need to support as well!
The Red Ribbon Week theme this year is YOLO, Be Drug Free #YOUONLYLIVEONCE
If you are not sure what Red Ribbon Week is, it is celebrated in schools nationwide to motivate kids to be drug-free.
“Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest and LARGEST drug prevention program in the nation reaching millions of Americans during the last week of October every year. By wearing red ribbons and participating in community anti-drug events, young people pledge to live a drug-free life and pay tribute to DEA Special Agent Enriqué “Kiki” Camarena.” ~ Red Ribbon Coalition.com
Enrique “Kiki” Camarena grew up in a dirt-floored house with hopes and dreams of making a difference.
Camarena worked his way through college, served in the Marines and became a police officer. When he decided to join the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, his mother tried to talk him out it. “I can’t not do this,” he told her. “I’m only one person, but I want to make a difference.
Special Agent Kiki Camarena was an 11-year veteran of the DEA assigned to the Guadalajara, Mexico, office where he was on the trail of the country’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers. In 1985, he was extremely close to unlocking a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline.
On February 7, 1985, he was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers. His tragic death opened the eyes of many Americans to the dangers of drugs and the international scope of the drug trade.
Shortly after Kiki’s death, Congressman Duncan Hunter and Kiki’s high school friend Henry Lozano launched “Camarena Clubs” in Kiki’s hometown of Calexico, California. Hundreds of club members pledged to lead drug-free lives to honor the sacrifice made by Kiki Camarena.
Red Ribbon Week is celebrated in schools nationwide every year. When I was teaching fourth grade the parents decorated the school with red ribbons. Some years we had an assembly with the police department, or maybe a counselor spoke to the students about the dangers of doing drugs.
We had discussions about alcohol and drug use in the classroom. You had to be there to get the full picture, but I’m sure some of the parents would be mortified if they knew what their child was revealing about them in class.
At the time, I had not experienced my children’s drug use, so I was relatively naïve as well.
So many have worked hard to make this a national cause. I hope the cause expands even further and more lives are saved.
It would be so great if Red Ribbon Week had the same kind of impact.
There’s room for all great causes.
Kids are dying each day from alcohol overdose, illegal drug overdose, as well as legal drug overdose, car accidents, and other sidelines of drug use.
Breast cancer and addiction are two different diseases. They affect people in difference ways. There is not the kind of stigma attached to breast cancer as there is to addiction.
However we lose about 130 people from an overdose everyday. If we want to have a future generation that is healthy, strong, and ready to move us forward, we need to pay attention.
Let’s not leave behind those that are affected by the disease of addiction. Let’s prevent kid’s lives from becoming sidelined because of their substance use.
We need to give people affected by the disease of addiction a hand up. Even better, we need to PREVENT this disease by spreading awareness and educating our kids so they will stay healthy.
Pizza boxes, (kids love pizza) could have a red ribbon for the week, for the month, for the year. It wouldn’t need to stop there.
Let’s not stop spreading awareness about the dangers of drug use. Let’s talk about it every week during the year.
What do think about Red Ribbon Week?
How does your community support Red Ribbon Week?
This post has been updated from the original post date of October 24, 2011.
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