Every October we do a breast cancer section of the magazine. We highlight everything from doctors to boutiques and restaurants that give a percentage of money back to organizations that are helping find a cure, spread awareness or simply help someone going through the diagnosis.
My great grandmother had Breast Cancer- they found it when she was in her early seventies so that was my biggest impact of breast cancer with someone close to me- until last October. I’ll never forget, I was busy working away on the December issue of the magazine and kept emailing, texting and calling my co-worker and friend Jennifer Elliott. She was not responding to my emails for a week and we were under deadline. I thought that was so weird because Jennifer is so on top of everything- ALWAYS. I was actually worried she was getting ready to quit but was scared to quit because we were friends! I had all of these things going through my head- but never was I prepared for her explanation when she finally called at the end of week.
I answered the phone and asked her if everything was ok. When she said “No”, I braced myself. She hadn’t called all week because she found out earlier in the week she had breast cancer. Yes, she had breast cancer. She was lucky, as she was going in for routine mammograms and found it early. She was stage one and decided to have a mastectomy. I saw our friend network kick in with moral support,
meals, rides for the kids, and prayers. That changed us as friends, and her diagnosis changed us here at the magazine. We realized we are all so much more than colleagues- we are all a team and were on Team Elliott. A year later she is SURVIVING!
This years October Breast Cancer Awareness section is special to me and if you have a friend or family member going through it maybe something in here can help.
Visit our October Digital issue beginning on page 50 to read the entire Feature Story.
