The Girls are all right?

Outfit Details: Sweater, Skirt and Sandals all J.Crew, Messanger bag Ralph Lauren via T.J Maxx

Pink is one hell of a hue - so pretty and yet so strong. I was once asked in a job interview, if you were a product in a store what would you be, I didn’t even have to think before responding “a box of crayons - because I am vibrant” however secretly I wished he had pushed me “and what crayon would you be?” because it would have been Pink and I am sure a lot of my fashion blogger friends would agree…  but getting to the point this month is one big pink extravaganza!!

As you all know October is Breast cancer awareness month and you have probably already been bombarded with enough marketing messaging to numb you black and blue, to make you turn a stoic eye and want to punch the next person who even goes in that direction.

If that’s the case then I will bob and weave, all the time distracting you while I sing you an ode to my loss of the “it cannot happen to my family” mentality. This story is from 6 years back but still like a coat of fresh paint in my memory. When I met my Mom-in-law for the first time, after a lot of chatting and then a few patches of “what to talk about next” polite silences, in full disclosure mode she told me about a knot in one of her breasts, “no big deal” she said, “I have always had it” and when I who had never heard of a lump and anatomical parts in the same breath without panicking before asked her if she had had it checked,  she replied true mommy-selfless style “mommies whose kids love them never get sick.” Noble thought, but the only trouble with that statement is that they do, and as you can guess where this is going, one year later we learned that it was malignant and needed to be removed immediately. Both me and my husband then in our mid twenties, living several thousand miles away from our families, never having dealt with the idea of loss before, for the first time dealt with the idea that this could be “IT”, that breast cancer can happen to someone we know, someone we love, someone we cannot imagine life without.

My mom in law came out of this ordeal healed, recovered, thankful for god’s graces but can I propose one thing today - will you talk to one beautiful woman you know/love/care about - your mom, your sister, or your best friend about this, ask her if she has ever gotten a Mammogram, tell her you will go with her and give her company, if you are over 40 and have never gotten one then go for it together.  Talk about it…just make sure the girls are alright.

Thanks for reading.

Take care,

Dev

P.S. The link below has a lowdown on Mammograms.

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/mammograms.cfm