Why I'm Not a Pink Ribbon Girl...

I’m not a Pink Ribbon Girl. Don’t get me wrong, I was at one time, and if you are…then more power to you! 😊 But me? Pink Ribbons just don’t give me all the feels.

Let me explain.

In early 2005, I scheduled my yearly mammogram for June. No big deal, it is what I did to keep me safe. Then June came with the appointment… six weeks after my mom’s funeral. I was exhausted, mad, emotionally raw and in the pit of grief. I don’t know why I did not reschedule, but I didn’t. So, I went. I gathered up my strength, put on the paper gown and was taken to the “holding room”. And there they were. Pink ribbons, all around me. I sat frozen and cried hysterically. Knowing the stages of grief, I understand the sensitive state I was in. But, those damn pink ribbons… I didn’t want anything to do with them.

There was a time that I was all about them. In support of my mother, we did all the walks, all the fundraising and bought all the gear. But sitting in that paper gown, pink ribbons.. to me.. were no longer a symbol of hope. They were a symbol of death.

The next year I did not get a mammogram, nor the next .. and not even the next. I just couldn’t bring myself to go. Then while talking to a dear friend about her upcoming appointment, I confided that I had not been in three years. Boy, did I get in trouble. She told me that she would drag me kicking and screaming if need be, but I was going.

I decided to put my big girl panties on and went, alone. I got a call back. So, I went in for a second confirmation, and they said I had a calcification spot. This scare would be an eye opener. The next year was 2010 and a positive diagnosis. This same friend asked how she could help, what I wanted and what did I not want. All I could say was “no pink ribbons”.

I learned two things then:

First, get your mammograms!

Second, get yourself friends like that!

You need a support group. You need to have people hold you accountable in everything, not just cancer. You need people who love you enough, who think you are worthy enough to fight for. You need people who will come along the side of you, and no matter if they agree or disagree, do what you need. You need people who have been blessed with different abilities and have individual strengths. Your going to need them all. No one is more important than the other. No one is needed more than the other. Each one is going to fall into her God given space and minister how she is called to minister.

Some of them are even amazing pink ribbon girls, even when you are not.

Thank you, Alicia, for kicking my butt and saving my life.

😊Richelle