This is a guest blog post by Hydaway ambassador and English teacher Dana Foley. Follow her on Instagram for book recommendations and cute puppy pictures @illreadwhatsheread.
It is October which beholds the best part of living in the midwest. The leaves change and the air takes on a crisp quality that lends a magical feeling to the sidewalk. The world is colorful and opens the door to the imaginations of children with Halloween on the horizon and knowing that the snow is nipping at our heels. Soon the color will be blanketed in white. To quote L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
In the last few years, October has taken on a new meaning with everything turning pink for breast cancer awareness. I don’t think there is a person on the planet who isn’t aware of breast cancer at this point, but to a thriver (that’s what we call someone living with breast cancer), it is more than pink tutus and parades. It is living every day, doing things with my children, reading books, and knowing that early detection has saved my life. I am 39 and I have what has now been called recurrent breast cancer, despite doing it all right, the bilateral mastectomy and the chemotherapy, it came back. I am doing battle again and will realistically continue for the rest of my life. My battle isn’t just for myself, it is for everyone.
Weirdly enough, the clashing of emotions for October forces me to focus on what I can control. Nature does its own thing, and so does cancer. It is how we cope and react that makes us humans. A wise Albus Dumbledore said, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
I choose to be happy.
I choose to love October and all its glory.
I choose what I can control and how I impact the future.
As a mother and a teacher, I can impress upon my children the importance of preserving the world that gives us these Octobers. We garden. We compost. We recycle. We bring our Hydaways all over because we want our Octobers preserved.
