What's Really Important

Over the past several months, the news media has provided front-page, lead story coverage of the comings and goings of the most important and influential people in our culture. Every salacious detail in the lives (and in one case, death) of Britney, Paris, Lindsay, Brad/Angelina/Jennifer, and Anna Nicole has been served, fresh and hot, to be instantly devoured by a public only too eager to beg for more.

The endless paparazzi photos and video of such meaningful contributors to society is occasionally interrupted with images from Iraq or the latest on who is (or isn’t) running for president – in an election that is still 20 months away. Here in Minnesota, a couple of back-to-back, bona-fide snowstorms drowned out everything this past week, including the recent “dip” in the stock market, which was initially viewed as a potentially cataclysmic event by drooling reporters and commentators. But that’s a story for another day.

I’ve often wondered why we spend so much time being interested in – even obsessed with – people and things that have no appreciable effect on our own lives. Doesn’t it make far more sense to be devoted to monitoring the well-being of our parents, children, siblings, and other relatives, as well as the friends, neighbors and co-workers, whom we see everyday?

In December of 2003, my friend Stacey was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was healthy, active, didn’t smoke or drink, and was the last person I thought would get such a disease. Fortunately, the cancer was caught early. She underwent a double mastectomy, along with reconstructive surgery, and six doses of chemotherapy. After all was said and done, she was pronounced cancer-free. In fact, as the weeks and months passed, it was hard to know if Stacey had ever been sick.

While Stacey was going through chemo, I wanted to do something to support her. I had taken her friendship for granted and decided that I wouldn't miss any opportunity to show her that she was important to me. I wanted to do more than donate a few dollars to breast cancer research. Then I heard about the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Without comprehending the magnitude of “three days, 60 miles”, I immediately knew I had found my “something”.

I walked in the 2004 Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-Day for Stacey. I heard stories from those who sponsored me about their own experiences with breast cancer. So I walked for them, too. And, like a lot of other walkers, I walked because I could... and because others couldn’t.

I walked in the 2005 and 2006 3-Day events because I enjoyed being with hundreds, if not thousands, of women in walking shorts and sports bras for three days (and two nights). Okay, that’s not entirely true. The thought that breast cancer can strike virtually anyone at any time, without the person actually doing anything specific, unnerved me. You didn't have to smoke or eat red meat and you couldn't catch it from someone else who had it. After the 2004 3-Day, I couldn’t just say that I done my part and was done with it. I was “involved” now. I realized how thankful I was that the women closest to me – my mom and sister and nieces and aunts and cousins and friends and neighbors and co-workers – were all healthy and cancer-free. And I wanted to make sure they stayed that way.

I don’t always think about them. Like everyone else, I get caught up in the busyness of my day – going to work, taking care of my home, figuring out what to make for dinner. But the thought of being a part of the 3-Day and why it’s important is never far away.

I will soon be joining my teammates to begin training for the 2007 3-Day. I won’t be spending time watching mindless television sitcoms or reality shows or cable news programs speculating on what major geo-political, socio-economic disaster will strike next. I’ll be spending that time with people who matter to me.

Somehow, I don’t think Britney will mind.