Speak Your Mind

Home

The Kids Are All Right

Taking Back Pink

Posted by Lisa Hendey in Health on Monday, October 31, 2011 3:59 PM

My Halloween “treat” to myself this year was a trip to my local women’s imaging center for my annual mammogram. I managed to fit it into the month of October, but just barely, and am happy to report that I received a clean bill of health. I don’t know if having had so many treatments and mammos over the past years has dulled my senses, but it even seemed less uncomfortable than past screenings.

But while in the center, I was pondering my intense dislike for the sight of those little pink ribbons that seem to have cropped up everywhere in the past few years: on cereal boxes, the sides of trucks and even on NFL football players. As someone who’s been successfully treated for non-invasive breast cancer, I am incredibly grateful for the generosity and resources that have gone into making this disease so curable.

So I’m not sure why in the past few years the sight of those ever-present pink ribbons have become such an irritation to me. I’ve read the official Komen story behind the development of the pink ribbon, and also know quite well the large controversies in pro-life circles over Komen finances. But I think for me, there is also something deeper at work—perhaps some strange feeling of guilt that I’ve come through a relatively minor treatment so easily while I saw firsthand the suffering of so many of my fellow patients in the cancer center, day in and day out, during my daily radiation treatments. Along with money for research, what so many of them needed was human caring and compassion: warm hugs, hands to hold, ears to listen and prayer warriors to storm heaven on their behalf. Yes, funding for research is critical in resolving and finding a cure for this and other diseases. But along with that, I hope we will never think that wearing a pink ribbon in solidarity is “good enough”.

It’s likely that each of us knows someone whose life has been touched by breast cancer. Today, I’d invite you to do two things: first, schedule your annual mammogram if you haven’t yet had it this year. Second, remember in prayer all of those who are suffering illnesses and ask yourself how you can make a difference in their lives today: a cooked meal, a ride to an appointment, or best yet sincere prayers offered on their behalf.

As for me, along with pondering these things today and giving thanks to God for the gift of my good health, I’m trying my best to “re-like” pink—we in the Church know it as “rose”—the color of joy. So maybe for now, when I see those ribbons, I’ll be inspired to feel joy and not guilt…I’m working on it!

 Print Blog   Email a Friend   

Post a Comment

By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.

Speak Your Mind

Home

The Kids Are All Right