My Aunt

We have been notified that several of our Mississippi Melon team members have been chosen to carry flags in the opening and closing ceremonies at the San Francisic 3 Day Walk. I have been chosen to carry the "My Aunt" flag - other flags are 'my mother', 'my friend', etc. My sister-in-law, Kendra, our team captain, asked each of us to write a few lines about what carrying our flag means to us. Fortunatly, I have not had an aunt fight breast cancer - my mother, yes, but not my aunts. Then I started thinking - I AM THE AUNT!!! No, thank God, I do not have breast cancer and hope I never will. But I AM the beloved Aunt KK to Triple, Megan, Erin, Caitlyn, Claire, Kameron, Britton and little Gus - Simpsons, all, and they LOVE their Aunt KK. I never want them to go through the heartbreak of being told their aunt has breast cancer. Or their sister, or their friend, or their cousin. Each of them has already lost their precious grandmother, Mimi, to breast cancer. Nobody else, please, God, nobody else. So when I carry the "My Aunt" flag, I will be thinking of them and walking so that none of them - or anyone else - faces that ever again.

Kathleen Young