Today is May 1st. It is going to be in the 70s here in Chicago, and the sun will be out for most of the day. We think of May in terms of flowers blooming, gardens being planted, senior proms, school graduations, and the celebration of loving mothers on Mother's Day. And we end the month in remembrance of loved ones who have passed on.
Suffice to say that there is a lot going on in May. What does May mean for you? Is it your 'gateway' that leads towards summer fun and freedom from school? Does it signal a time of rebirth, renewal, and rejoicing?
This year, May feels a bit different to me. Sure, I am happy that my son will be 'graduating' from middle school and heading to high school this Fall. Yes, I am happy to be celebrating another Mother's Day with my wife. And yes, I will take time on Memorial Day, as I always do, to pay my respects to my grandfather.
But perhaps more than in previous years, I am reminded of the role mothers play in our lives. I am very thankful that my mother is alive and very active in her ministry. I am very thankful that my children are blessed to have mothers who love them unconditionally. I am very thankful that my sister, the mother of my nephew Chris, is healthy and strong.
It is painful for me to think about how Mother's Day affects my wife, who lost her mother to breast cancer over 20 years ago. I know that she misses her mothsr a lot, and while we know she is watching over us in heaven, it does not always alleviate the sense of loss.
When I decided to participate in the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer, the main reason for doing so was because of my mother-in-law. Barbara was very supportive of us when I dated Christi during high school. She was very loving and kind. She had a lot of love to give when her life was short due to this terrible disease, which runs through generations of women in her family history.
As the date for the AVON Walk quickly approaches -- June 2-3, 2012 -- I think more and more about Barbara, friends who are fighting today, friends who have survived, and friends who have not. I think about those, like Christi, who have lost loved ones to cancer. I have been doing a lot of praying about this.
I am walking because I needed to find a way to make a difference. Praying tends to lead to action, and I feel that I need to do this. I need to take a positive step to do something that will have a positive impact towards ending this disease.
If you feel like I do, then I encourage you to pray about what you can do to help this fight so that there WILL be a time when cancer is not the scourge that it is today.
If you wish, you can join me in the AVON Walk by making a donation to the AVON Foundation. Any amount will help, from $5.00 to $500.00, as all the monies collected will add up to help those get the treatment they need and to fund the research necessary to find the cure. Just go to my AVON Fundrasing web site and make an online donation. it is totally secure.
Make May a month of action -- a time to celebrate things new, a time to celebrate relationships, and a time to honor those who have gone before us.
