Oct 19
This year I had the honor of serving as co-chair for communications on the Arkansas Race for the Cure committee. It was exciting, stressful, and above all, completely inspiring. After the race was over, I went home, grabbed some lunch, and sat on my back patio to process everything I’d just seen and been a part of.Like the rest of you, I’ve been enjoying this unseasonably cold fall. I’m often in the habit of grabbing my camera and taking pictures of the little things that usually go unnoticed; a pine cone, an acorn, the cobwebs on our withering garden. So as I headed to the the back patio to take some pictures and unwind, I noticed a tiny lady bug crawling on in my rosemary plant.
I zoomed in for a close up, and it was then that I noticed this lady bug had a story to tell. In addition to her red shell and sassy black polk-a-dots, she had a gigantic dent in her shell. As my sympathies swelled, I began to concoct all sorts of scenarios for how she sustained her injury.
Perhaps she was waddling hurriedly during a storm and was struck by a mini-hail stone (which from her perspective, wouldn’t have been ‘mini’ at all).
Perhaps she fell from the top of the rosemary bush onto the patio below.
Maybe… my schnauzer Mabel stepped on her. But then I stopped short. If my Mabel had stepped on this bug, well, there would be far more damage than a dent.
Either way, this lady bug gave me a lot to think about, especially after participating in the world’s fourth largest Race for the Cure. Because despite it all, this little dented bug seemed just fine. She scurried from one side of the leaf to the other as I drew closer with my lens, seemingly unfazed by her old injury.
But it made me think about us. Our human injuries, the dents we sustain over the years. The lady bug reminded me of all the women who marched in the Race for the Cure this weekend, more than 45,000 people, a sea of pink t-shirts and hats, marching en masse through downtown Little Rock.
As I rested in my lawn chair on our chilly patio, I watched this resilient little bug and thought of all the people who raced. There were women with a few scars, some with a lot of scars, some with no scars. And yet there we were, dented and not broken. Running, walking, and laughing with our family and friends, thousands of women swarming throughout downtown and across the Arkansas river bridge, dents and all.
I’m thankful we, as women and men, possess the ability to sustain these injuries. I’m thankful we all, deep down, are able to endure some really awful, scary things, only to come out the other side happy again. Strong again, with the ability go on about our business of scurrying and making a life for ourselves.
The resiliency of this little ladybug is just a tiny illustration of the strength of breast cancer survivors, and it reassures me. It reassures me that despite the fact that we’re all assured a few dents along the way, there is still a life of possibilities down the road. A place where we’re all happily dented, but never broken. A place where we will find the cure.
I want to thank all the wonderful women I’ve encountered through working on the committee, on Facebook, and here on this blog. I’ve met and chatted with hundreds of women I would have otherwise had no way of meeting. So thank you, to everyone, and I hope you’ll all feel free to keep in contact with me throughout the rest of the year here.
Thank you again, to everyone who participated in this year’s Sweet 16 Race for the Cure. It was encouraging, inspirational, and a sign of things to come: a cure.
Liz Owen
Co-Chair, Communications
This was an awesome message, thanks so much for sharing. We all are in some way “dented” some more than others; and we manage to keep going. God gives us the strength and persistence to go on!
Awesome post. I was diagnosed at age 30 and will be celebrating 10 years of survivorship in April. I am dented and scarred, but far from broken! The race was amazing. Thanks to everyone who makes it possible.
Nicely put, dented but not broken.
I was fortunate to be a part of that sea of pink! I’m not a survivor, but I am a warrior for the cause. And just like the previous races I participated in, I was moved, encouraged and inspired by it all. Maybe, just maybe we’ll see a cure for this disease in our lifetime!
Thanks for sharing….Was a great race….Reminds us Dented can always be fixed
and if not fixed immediately we can cope with it til it can be, we will find a cure!
Liz,
What a wonderful article! It helps so much to realize that being a survivor, my body is “dented”, but not “broken.” Thank you for helping me see that. It was so awesome to see and be a part of the “sea of pink.”
Liz –
Congratulations on not only doing a great job in your titled position, you also took it a step further by wonderfully sharing your inner thoughts in this post!
proud to know you i boast
What a way to sum up the year — it was an honor to be on the committee with you and the other women (and men).
Diane
Loved your article. Ladybug is my nickname, given to me by my grandma. I am a one year survivor, dented body but a positive spirit. This was my first race but not my last.