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My wife makes these awesome signs to hold at cheering stations. This year, she had a sign that said, “My Husband: Sexiest Man You’ll Ever See Wearing a Pink Bra!”. In 2008, she made a sign with a picture of my head at the top and then a drawn body wearing a real bra. I guess you could say it was foreshadowing of this year and actual me wearing a bra at the 3-Day. Also in 2008, she made a sign for my son to carry that said, “My daddy is a warrior against breast cancer!” It didn’t really hit me until later what that meant. At the time, I didn’t feel like a warrior. Maybe it was because of how tired I was from all the walking, maybe I had just never thought about it in that way, but over the weeks and months that followed that 3-Day I realized that I am a warrior against breast cancer, and chances are that if you are reading this then you are too.

What Makes a Warrior?

Whoa, wait a minute, that last sentence might have startled you a little bit like it did me. You may be wondering how you could possibly make you a warrior against breast cancer and I think it’s probably more subtle than you think. While I think that it would be pretty easy to say that people who do these walks and raise all sorts of money for the fight against breast cancer are warriors, I also think it’s more than that. You can be a warrior against breast cancer without ever lacing up the shoes.

I personally believe that each and every person that made a donation to my 3-Day for the Cure efforts is a warrior against breast cancer. They could have very easily said that they didn’t have the money that month or they could have just done nothing and not made donation. But these awesome people decided that it was more important to make a contribution to the fight against breast cancer than it was to get their latte or buy that video game or any other number of things that they could have spent their money on other than a charity.

The next group of warriors against breast cancer make contributions that are more than money can buy. These are the people that support all the walkers and crew in their endeavors. They cheer us on at cheering stations, they push us out of bed for training walks (ok, while that might not seem so supportive at 5 in the morning, it got me out on the training walks which was a big help), they put up with us being away from family for so long because of training. They do all of these things to help keep us on course and keep us motivated for our training and our fund raising. Without them, this event would be a whole lot harder. Without them, we would not make such strides in our fight against breast cancer.

I guess that what I’m saying with all of this is that everyone that goes out of their comfort zone or out of their daily routine to make a difference in the fight against breast cancer is a warrior. Some may think that this is a little hokey, but this has been on my mind for a good while now and it’s something that I felt needed to be said.

Battle Call

Now is the time where I call you to action. If you haven’t ever been involved in the 3-Day for the Cure this is your chance. As I said above, there are many ways in which you can participate and bring out the warrior that I know you can be. Maybe walking is the right choice for you, did you know that the 2011 3-Day for the Cure registration is now open? You could start a team of friends or you could join a team. If you’re really dedicated you could join on your own! Maybe you don’t want to do all that walking, I admit 60 miles is a bit daunting. You can still be involved in the event by being a crew member. Registration for the 2011 3-Day is open for that too! (to register, go to http://the3day.org) Ok, maybe you don’t want to participate in an event. Make a donation to someone that you know that is walking in the walk. We all have to raise $2300 to do this and the more money that we raise the closer that we get to a cure! Don’t have the funds? Look into supporting a walker or crew member in another way. Send them a letter at the 3-Day camp (if you go to spectator info on the 3-Day page and select the city it has instructions to do this) or come cheer them on at a cheering station!

Whatever you do, know that you are doing it for an amazingly good cause. Thanks for reading and thanks for all that you do to be a warrior against breast cancer.