When I first met my publicist, Julie Scopazzi, I gained the immediate sense that she was someone whose very nature is gratitude. We were at lunch one day last summer when she shared the remarkable story of her mother’s survival of breast cancer with me. I asked her to share it with you because it is a great story that can inspire all of us!
Julie’s story….
Everyone can use a role model, even a 45 year old. We find our role models in many different places, but in my case I keep finding mine in the very same place. You see, my mother is going to be 80 years old this July 12th and she is celebrating her 80th birthday by doing the Avon 40-mile Walk for Breast Cancer. Why do this when she could be toasting with Chianti in her hometown in Tuscany? Because she is a 41 year survivor of breast cancer and she has a story to tell. And she is getting all of her children to do it with her to boot!
My mother is amazing and she has been my hero ever since I can remember. One of my oldest memories is from when I was five years old back in 1967. I went with all of my brothers and sisters to see my mom in the hospital after breast cancer surgery. The priest had just left, her condition was that grave. I remember her mustering up the strength to explain her condition to me in terms a five year old could understand. Something happened in that hospital room that day. My mother looked at her five children ranging in age from 16 years to 18 months. Right there and then she decided that it wasn’t time to go just yet. Heaven can wait. Her children needed her, I needed her. And she had so much more yet to give.
37 years later I got my first callback on a mammogram. Knowing my family history, I was scared to death. Luckily for me it turned out just to be fibro cysts. But the situation was enough to make me want to do something about it. This will be the 3rd year that I am doing the Avon Walk. It is my way of making a little contribution to a monumental effort. While they call it a walk, let me tell you, it is no stroll in the park. While the route changes every year, last year we started in Golden Gate Park, hiked through the Presidio, over the Golden Gate Bridge and down into Sausalito, then over to Mill Valley, turned around and headed back over to the Golden Gate Bridge to camp for the night in Crissy Field. That is 26+ miles in one day. The next morning it starts all over again and goes 13+ miles through the city of San Francisco, up and down hills weaving our way back to Golden Gate Park for closing ceremonies.
This walk raises about $5.5 million dollars to fund early detection and education programs. Last year’s SF route went through SF General Hospital where we saw the two mobile mammography vans that go into low income areas and give free mammograms to women with no medical insurance or access to medical care. There wasn’t a dry eye on the route after seeing that.
This year I have the privilege of walking with my amazing mother and my large Italian family. Each of us has to raise a minimum of $1800 in order to walk. That means my team has to bring in about $20,000. I am confident the money will come in. It always does. It does because everyone has been touched by this horrible disease.
One woman, who donates $500 each year to my walk, does so because her best friend is battling breast cancer. They say she is terminal. She has twin daughters who are toddlers. Her wish is to live long enough so her daughters will remember their mother. This is a tragedy that shouldn’t have to happen. But then again, never under estimate the power of a mother.
