January 7, 2012 Competition to benefit Breast Cancer Research, by Stacy Stowe
I wanted to post a congratulations today to every one of our cheerleaders, coaches, parents, siblings, extended family and friends from Alpha Athletics! The competition at Broughton High School, benefiting the Kay Yow Foundation for Breast Cancer Research had very special significance to our family today. Winning not only the trophy's that the girls won, and the most spirit award, but also being able to say we raised the most money just makes my heart want to overflow.
You see, my late husbands family has a very nasty genetic link to breast cancer on their side....every female young and old, and a few males, have had it. Some fought and won, some fought courageously, but could not overcome. I never got to meet my mother in law, because cancer took her away 1 year almost to the day, before I met Mike, when she was only 37 years old. Sadly, he had been in basic training in another state, when she got sick. Although he was on a plane immediately when he learned she was in the hospital (she had been trying to hide it from him so she wouldn't stress him out, during basic training) he missed her by 3 hours. He didn't even know she was sick and never got to tell his Mama goodbye.
Our daughter Bryn Stowe has a 50/50 chance of having inherited the gene. I pray that she has inherited my genes. Whether she did or not, I will continue to support & fight cancer in every way I can, because I WILL BE DAMNED IF CANCER WILL EVER GET MY DAUGHTER!!!! Today after the competition, by complete coincidence, my husbands family had a planned get together at a local restaurant (we had the whole clan there, even some who flew in from other states) to celebrate our Matriarch's (My Mike's Grandmother) 80th birthday. She is a breast cancer survivor♥ Today is also the day Mike's Mama, (her daughter) Cherry was laid to rest in 1992.
I just want to send a heartfelt thank you to each & every one of you, who helped make this day so beautiful for us! I know it was tough to come back from the holidays and go right into it, with only a week to get ready, but I believe it was meant for us to be there. I believe part of the reason for our victory was because my children needed this incredibly special news to share with their great grandmother on a day that for most people is uplifting, but for her, many times means tears. She is a very strong woman, and it is a very rare occurrence indeed for her to let others see her cry♥♥♥