Day 16 belongs to Kena — thirty years a real estate broker, nine years on the other side of breast cancer, and pink every single day of October.
“The mammogram saved my life.”
— Kena
Listen to our conversation with Kena
Found on a mammogram. Again.
Kena was diagnosed in 2016. Her cancer was found on a mammogram — which, if you’ve been listening this month, is starting to sound like a drumbeat. That’s because it is.
She doesn’t hedge about it either. The mammogram saved her life. Full stop. That’s why she wears pink every day in October, all month long — not as decoration, but as a reminder walking around Bellingham telling you to go book yours.
And Kena is an open book. If you’ve got questions about breast cancer and you’ve been afraid to ask someone, she welcomes the conversation. That’s a rare and generous offer.
The gift cancer gave her
Here’s the part of this conversation we’re still thinking about.
When Kena got sick, her community came for her. People brought meals — people she didn’t really even know. Old friends turned up at the door just to talk, just to tell her they were pulling for her.
We ended up joking that it was like getting a celebration of life while you’re still alive. And then the joke stopped being funny and started being true.
Most of us never find out how big our community actually is. We don’t get to see the impact we’ve had on people until there’s a room full of them and we’re not in it. Kena got to see hers, at the exact moment she needed it most. She calls that a gift, and she’s right.
On letting people help you
We also talked about how hard it is to ask.
Most of us would rather do anything than need something. But when somebody shows up with a casserole and you say yes, you’ve given them something too — a way to do something with all that worry. Helping is a gift. Letting yourself be helped is the other half of it.
If you’re in it right now and someone offers: say yes. You’re not taking. You’re giving them somewhere to put their love.
Kena, today we run for you
Sixteen miles down, past the halfway mark, and this one is yours. Thank you for the pink, the openness, and for telling everyone who’ll listen to go get screened.
Run for them. Get screened for you.
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