My remarks from todays Komen Race for the Cure. I was asked to share our family’s breast cancer story. As I’ve matured, my perspective on life has changed. My dad always said it would happen eventually. When I was a little boy, I thought strength was purely a physical trait – tall, strong, muscles. I thought strength was for boys. That girls were to be protected. That girls were supposed to be dainty. When I met my future wife, Cristi, and went to ask for her hand in marriage, I asked her mom because her dad passed away before we met. I met her mom -- this remarkable woman who worked at a factory in Virginia, sent her three daughters to college, and raised three intelligent, accomplished, and successful women. Fast forward a few years. When I got the news that I was going to be a dad, we eagerly awaited the day we could learn the gender. God chose to bless us first with a son. I was raised with a brother, so having a son was familiar to me. I nicknamed him “Bam Bam” because he broke just about everything in our house at one time or another. He even wrenched the hot and cold faucets off the wall of the shower. He set weightlifting records and excelled in wrestling and football. And he reaffirmed my image that strength was purely physical. Oh, but then God blessed us with a daughter! I remember when she was placed in my arms for the very first time and my heart melted. I thought, “What in the world am I supposed to do with precious baby girl?” I immediately gravitated to what I knew. That I was to protect her from evil things. I was to keep her brother from accidentally hurting her. I was to keep any boy from EVER harming her. But then she began to reteach me everything I thought I knew about strength. One of my favorite photos of her is taken down the 3rd base line at a tee ball game. Her eyes are intensely focused on home plate. I wish I could adequately convey that intensity. It has more strength than any bench press or cross fit gym. And I learned that strength is not uniquely physical. o I learned about strength of resolve. o Strength of spirit o Depth of commitment And a dogged determination to accomplish whatever task was at hand. And I wondered where she got those traits? Then I realized it came from her mother and her grandmothers. Once they set their mind to something, you’re not going to change it. • They fight for what they believe in. • They fight for those they love. • They don’t give up. And every little girl or boy needs that kind of unconditional love. When my mother-in-law got breast cancer she went through the normal range of emotions – denial, pain, anger, sadness, depression, and finally – acceptance. Without fanfare, without self-pity, without drama – she methodically went to her doctor’s appointments, took her chemo treatments, weathered surgeries and reconstruction. And she did it all with such grace and class that sometimes, frankly, we forgot she was sick. That’s strength. As a husband, father, son, and son-in-law, suddenly I became keenly aware of the women in my life. And frankly, I wondered what I would possibly do without them. And I realized how much I love them and -- like many men -- just how little I had expressed that love. As for me and my family, today we are here in honor of my mother-in-law, Dorothy Moore (who we affectionately call Mamaw Dot) – who’s an 8 ½ year survivor. We love you and we honor you. Thanks for inspiring us. We won’t give up til there’s a cure.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 01:10:41 +0000
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