Blogs

Top Hearted Posts

Fight Against Breast Cancer

by on ‎10-20-2016 05:20 PM

As we get ready for FFANY shoes on sale (the big gala show with Jane Treacy is on QVC tonight) to raise money for the fight against breast cancer, I decided to share a story with you. To put a face to the fight. I know you have your own, perhaps many.

 

Meet my sister in law Maria. She is Joe’s older sister. A philly girl, a tough cookie, a bleeding heart. She loves to cook (how could she not, she’s Italian), she loves to craft (you should see these cool Eagles football scarves she made one year), and she loves shoes and clothes, so FFANY is right up her alley. (PS: FFANY is our annual October shoe sale where manufacturers donate designer shoes and boots, and we sell them for half of their suggested retail. Then, I think about 80% of the proceeds go toward breast cancer research & education.)

 

1.jpg

 

My sister in law Maria, I love dearly. I wish we lived closer, saw each other more. She’s one of those girls that has no pretense, no alterior motive, no angle, no weird judgement. She’s straight up who she is, and you always know where you stand. I like that. Joe calls her a Philly chick, which makes me smile. Maria and Joe’s dad was a Philly cop, so when they were kids, and home alone at night while he was on night shift, they would drag their mattresses into the family room and sleep near the front door just in case something happened and they needed to get out quick. Maria is scrappy like that, she knows how to greet life with a can do attitude and nothing gets her down. She just gets it done, even with Cancer.

 

2.jpg

 

“Pop”, Maria and Joe’s Dad, lived with Maria for about 15 years. As he got older, slower, and eventually sick, Maria became a hero caregiver. Between holding down a job, shuttling her youngest daughter to school / dance / cheer, kissing her middle son goodbye as he went off to the military, and mourning the loss of her oldest, Brandon, who went to be with the Lord when he was just 24 yrs…Maria kept on, keeping on. 

 

3.jpg

 

Maria has had life deal her a full hand, and I don’t mean the winning kind always. She’s never had it easy, but she never complains about that. When Maria was diagnosed with BC, we couldn’t believe it, mainly because, if anyone deserved a break, a win, a free pass, a little help & mercy in life, it is and was Maria. She’s that great girl who you love and your heart bleeds for because you feel like life has been harder on her than others, as in, more than her fair share. As soon as Maria was diagnosed, she went into go mode. So did I. I remember asking Nancy Hornbeck for help with what the A list doctors in Philly are for BC. And in no time, Maria had a plan: double mastectomy. I couldn’t believe it. What’s more I couldnt believe her spirit during the journey. It was as if this was no big deal, a blip, an inconvenience, something to just get past and move on from because bigger fish were on her hook. She was just incredible. She never licked her wounds, never crumbled in fear. I remember the picture after her surgery, smiling, brave, with drains coming out of her chest... 

 

4.jpg

 

So this blog is a tribute to my sister in law Maria. Joe calls her “Re”. She is one of the survivors. She is a hero to me, in so many ways because the way she stands up to life, and shoots straight from the hip, is beyond brave and inspiring to me. There are sisters, mothers, best friends, colleagues, aunts, daughters, so many out there walking the pink journey. There are not words for the example you are to womankind, of courage and overcoming. May God bless you with extraordinary mercy and equip with you with His supernatural strength to walk everyday knowing, you are not alone, and hope is real. For me, it’s named Maria.

 

x

 

5.JPG

 

 

 

Find more info on FFANY by clicking on the photo below:

FFANY.PNG