A Mother of a Fight

For the past nine consecutive years, I wake up early on a Saturday morning in May surrounded by more than 50,000 women. A recurring dream? Sort of. I join a large group of female—and some male—participants in the annual the Revlon 5K Run/Walk for women’s cancers.

All of us have our reasons for raising money and awareness for women’s cancers … and it’s not just for the free t-shirt.

My reason is I am a breast cancer survivor. I’ve never had the disease—though men can get it—but I am the son of a breast cancer survivor, my mother Linda. And I, and the rest of our family, feel we survived it with her. The battle against cancer isn’t to be fought only by those who have it.

The race never feels convenient for me as it’s always during a busy time in my life. Not to mention, I’m no fan of rising at six a.m. on my only day of the week to sleep in so that I can battle the crowds and congested traffic around the Los Angeles Coliseum just to get to the race.

But my mom, and the 200,000 plus women per year who are diagnosed with breast cancer, presumably find their diagnosis not only inconvenient, but troublesome and horrifying.

So each year I go, happy for and challenged by the huge crowds that show up for the event.

Upon arrival, I assimilate into the masses. I carry a goodie bag filled with free stuff from the many booths set up throughout the Coliseum grounds.

Pinned on the backs of some in attendance are handmade signs dedicated to loved ones lost to the disease and survivors: on a woman with short red hair: “I’m a cancer survivor!” On a middle-aged man: “In honor of my wife, Lisa. I love you.” On a college-aged Latina girl: “In memory of my mom and best friend, Maria.”

As the race starts, I nudge as close to the front as I can and wait impatiently for the extraordinarily loud starter blast. I’m annoyed that “walkers” are near the front of the pack, surely to be trampled and elbowed as we runners scurry past. I feel guilty that I’m annoyed at a charitable event like this. But when I think about it further, I realize the woman I’m running in honor of, my mom, would be annoyed too.