Polish For The Pink

     My name is Stephanie and I am currently a high school student.  From first hand experience, I know that breast cancer severely affects the patients' health and is emotionally taxing on those close to them.

     One night, during my fifth grade year, my brother and I couldn't sleep with the sound of the thunderstorm outside.  We told my mom that how we were afraid, and she let us sleep on my parents' bed.  While my brother and I lay there talking, distracting ourselves to the sound of the thunder, the phone rang.  My mom picked it up, and my brother and I picked up a another phone so we could eavesdrop on their conversation.  It was my grandmother.  She told my mom the unfortunate news: one day she felt an unusual lump in her chest, and a few weeks later, her doctor ran a few tests and later diagnosed my her with breast cancer.  

     Completely oblivious to the seriousness in the voices of my mother and grandmother, my brother and I started to crack jokes about the word "breast."  I easily ignored the word cancer, not knowing how to react to such a word at the time.  My grandmother has been a single mother ever since my mom was a teenager and my grandfather passed away.  She had always been so strong in working to support her three children.  She was fearless in battling all the hardships that life threw at her.  My grandmother embodied resilience, so it was almost incomprehensible how anything could possibly make her so vulnerable.  

     After accompanying my mom and grandmother to a few doctor appointments, I finally realized how serious the situation was.  It was difficult to see someone so tough made fragile from hair loss and weakened physical movements.  I was immediately overcome by guilt of my immature jokes and concern of the thought of losing the only grandparent I had a close relationship with.

     My grandmother fostered my creativity, frequently complimenting the designs I painted on my nails.  From time to time, she would feel my hands, telling me how beautiful my fingers were and that they resembled her own fingers in her younger days.  My grandmother's fight against breast cancer inspired me to create Polish For The Pink and donate all proceeds to aid in finding a cure.  I started Polish For The Pink not only because my grandmother encouraged my nail painting interests, but also because it ultimately became my way of fighting the same battle alongside her.