Family....maybe not;

Ok, I just have some musings, thoughts, whatever I need to get off my chest. I probably shouldn't add them here, but, at the risk of being the rude one, oh, wait - I think I already have that moniker, so, what the helck, I will anyway. It's my blog. I found myself wondering this same thing last year as well as this year. And I do realize that chosing to do this walk is my own undertaking. I really do try not to ask my family for much as far as this goes, (at least I hope that is case) like I said this is my thing, not theirs, and therefore not their responsibility. I ask for donations to the garage sale(s) that I have, hoping that this in some way helps them as much as it helps me. My mom always, always helps with anything she can. She is awesome like that; as a matter of fact so do my sisters. Their support is different, but it is always there. They help out when they can with what they can and it's always more appreciated then I think they realize. Even my Niece, whose husband was over-seas last year, serving in Iraq, was able to donate money, a lot more then some people who could have afforded it more then her. I think that today, yes, just today. I am bitter. And I really dont think that it has anything to do with my family. I believe that it may have started with a guilt trip that I got from a family member (they are the only ones that can send me on that kind of trip; and not even all my family members can do that. Otherwise, the only kinds of trips I take are vacations, stamping/scrap booking weekends, long week-ends, get-aways to the spa, shopping at the mall, etc. You get the idea. No one can make me feel guilty.).

So this guilt trip had me thinking about (money in general) and all the fundraising I still need to get done. And how I wish I just had the money to pay that $2200.00 myself and not have to worry about getting all this money together. Then I thought about fundraising last year, and even though it was a chore, yes I will admit that it can be chore, it's not only meant to "raise money" it is also meant, and most importantly, to RAISE AWARNESS!! Especially when it feels like there is no one there supporting you. When you go around to businesses in your own home town, where you have lived your whole life, and they treat you like you have leoporsy as soon as you ask to see the manager about a fundraising opportunity. Not too mention that I sound really young on the phone, so for me to call and try to set up an appointment to speak with any of these people is just as much of a moot point, they think it's a prank phone call. The newspapers are the same way. It's amazing how people treat you when all you are trying to do is raise money. And you don't even want their's!!

(They even haggle at a garage sale when a complete comforter set in fine condition (queen size, sheets, comforter, pillow cases, shams - open the whole thing up so they can see, no holes, eleastic in good condition) is marked $5.00; am willing to go down to $3/$2 the lowest and they want to give me .25! Yes that would be twenty-five CENTS!! HELLO!? PEOPLE all the profits are going to SUSAN G. KOMEN! can you give me a break? UGH! That is one story I will NEVER get over.)

But I digress, while I was fundraising last year, I did have fun, and the whole point is to SPREAD THE WORD about BREAST CANCER and to MAKE PEOPLE AWARE. The more fundraisers we did, the more BREAST CANCER WAS TALKED ABOUT, and the more people became AWARE OF BREAST CANCER and THOUGHT MORE ABOUT BREAST CANCER.

Maybe, just maybe, with all the Walkers and Crew members throughout the country holding fundraisers, this reminded some women (AND MEN!!) and they went home and did a Breast Self Exam (BSE). Maybe one of those women found a lump, went to her doctor; they found out that lump was breast cancer. What if this this woman was only 23? What if her wedding was the next weekend? What if SHE were your DAUGHTER? Luckily, however, they had caught it early enough that they were able to treat her and save her life.