L is for the…
Valentine’s Day: a day filled with love and spending time with those who you care most for. In just the one hour I sat in a coffee shop studying, I saw a minumum of twenty people walking past me on the sidewalk with flowers in hand and boxes of chocolates and candies in the other; rushing home to meet their loved ones or off to go sit down at a fancy dinner.
Thirteen years ago, on Valentine’s Day, I woke up on a cold February day for school. My alarm went off and I looked out the window, saddened that the foot of snow the weatherman called for was nowhere to be seen. I quickly put on my bunny slippers and ran down the stairs. It was Valentine’s Day, I was certain there would be a basket of candy waiting for me with my name on it. Running into the kitchen, instead of a basket of candy, I saw my mother and brother sitting at the kitchen table with a deep, grief-stricken face.
Valentine’s Day is now the day I remember the life of my Aunt Denise, who passed away from breast cancer. A mother, daughter, sister, aunt, best friend to my mother. A woman who would scrub her hands raw from washing them too hard, had lost her battle to breast cancer in only six months. My aunt that I saw on our annual family Christmas trip to California just a month ago, was gone from this Earth. I use Valentine’s Day as more than just a day to spend with a significant other or close friends, but now as a day for teaching about cancer prevention and awareness.
Love is more than just flowers and chocolate on one day of the year, but rather it’s checking in on your family and friends. Have you gotten that spot checked out yet? When was the last time you went to the doctor? I know work has been stressful, what do you do to destress? Want to go on a run with me today? These simple questions is the difference between just a year of loving them on this planet, to a lifetime.
As Frank Sinatra says it quite well,
L is for looking at any skin moles or marks that seem irregular.
O is for ordering a salad, instead of fries.
V is for visiting your doctor annually.
E is for educating yourself and loved ones on cancer prevention.
