PASSIONATELY PINK

Since I was a little girl my favorite color has always been purple. My favorite outfits were purple. Many of my birthday parties had purple as a main theme color (NO, not a certain dinosaur). Any and all accessories for my room and school were purple. My favorite food growing up was grape juice and eggplant…no, I’m kidding;-) But I DO LOVE purple, still.

As an adult, I reallllyyyy decided that I liked orange. Orange became the center of much of my sport-related wardrobe. The orange stripes on my running shoes made me run faster, I swear. Even my car had this little orange symbol on the back glass. When it comes Tennessee Lady Vol Basketball, I promise you can cut me open and I will bleed orange.

With the news that we were going to have a little girl in late 2003, pink became “my signature color.” Yes, I love Legally Blonde and am secretly dying to be Elle Woods;-) I remember the first load of baby blankets and clothes to be washed in the special baby detergent, and when I opened the dryer door to take them out it looked like the most wonderful little fluffy pink explosion had happened in there. It was perfect. And yes, I have passed it on, and pink is now HER favorite color. I can’t imagine it any other way. Maybe SHE’LL be the next Elle Woods…;-)

The only color to rival purple for the top spot in my all time favorite colors would be pink. But with PINK, it’s different somehow. I am passionate about pink. Our little Katie was the first to bring pink into our lives. The next was breast cancer. I remember texting my sister the day of my diagnosis, telling her “…and you know the color for breast cancer is pink!…” trying to make her smile, even though I know she was crying.

For the last two years, PINK has been more than a color to us. It has been the color worn proudly to chemotherapy, as a warrior going to battle, the color of the quest for a cure, and the color of PASSION, HOPE, and THE FUTURE.

Our pastor talked a couple Sundays ago about PASSION; about the things that God places in each of our hearts that drives us, and motivates us. He talked about the difference between lust and passion, where lust = selfish, and passion = serving others. And that’s why I think that PINK is the most PERFECT color for BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. It represents the passion with which we fight this disease. It is for us all. For a HOPE and THE FUTURE.

So starting tomorrow, the first of October, when you see everything from sharpies to swiffers to eggs…yes, I said eggs…with the famous pink ribbon, please take a moment to remember those who are still fighting, those of us who have fought and won, and those who fought valiantly but lost their battle with breast cancer. Remember those working passionately in laboratories searching for a cure. Remember those doctors and nurses who use their God-given talents everyday to heal their patients.

Remember the passion that goes into beating breast cancer…I know I will;-)

Enjoy being pink, y’all:-)

xoxo