Oct. 1, Pinktober -

What should "we" - you and me, my friends, do for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, beginning Oct. 1?

So much out there - but I find most of it very commodified, commercialized. I'm not asking anyone to buy a pair of glittery pink socks, a gaudy pink keychain, or pink-scented body wash, as if that's support (.5% being donated to some organization, but know what? I saw lots of ugly pink stuff on the clearance rack at a dept. store yesterday, that means .25% donated, if and when the ugly items are purchased). And "reposting" if you love someone who has BC is kind, but odd too. Love "me" all year, not just one month out of the year!

I'm not sure if I'm even a believer in the Making Strides or Race for a Cure events. If I am going to be celebrated (I am a breast cancer survivor), then I want to be made aware of those plans - I'll be "honored," but I haven't been invited! And how much really goes to breast cancer research/support? Maybe next year I'll feel a little more inclined to participant.

However I will wear my pink - watch and ribbon, blog daily for the month, work on getting rid of my chemo pounds, and thank God for life. Get your pink on - if it's the only thing you do! Here's mine -

A few suggestions for this month's celebrations, and beyond:

1. Know your boobs. 
1. Husbands - know your wife's boobs.
1. Go with your wife/girlfriend to her physical, come in when the doctor/nurse is examining her breasts, so you know how to and what to look for. 
2. Touch them monthly, feel them, recognize usual bumps, know what's not normal. 
3. Encourage the women, and men, in your life to know their breasts. 
1. Cancer can hit anyone, male or female, at any age. 
2. Get a base-line mammogram by 40. 
1. They don't hurt, not even on my ravaged boob. Just do it. 
2. If you don't have insurance, there are organizations that regularly host mammograms and pap smears for women without insurance. 
3.  Be grateful for life. 
1. Go one day without complaining. 
2. Smile a little longer. 
3. Watch the sunrise - consciously. 
4. Hold a loved one a little closer, a little longer. 
5. Give a compliment to a stranger.