Hey Everyone!
I thought I would share a bit of how Angels with Attitude came to be. Those of you who may not know me, my name is Nicole, I live in Wyoming and I am 25 years old. I have been married for almost 4 1/2 years and have two beautiful kiddos! I grew up in beautiful Montana and have been very grateful for all that life has given to me.
My mother was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in March of 2009, In November of 2009 Colon Cancer took my mothers life and I will NEVER forget what I had seen it do to her. When I knew she was very sick and wasn't going to make it much longer, I packed up my kids and we stayed with her until she passed on. That was only 3 weeks! 3 weeks of seeing her smile, laugh, cry, hug me and sleep peacefully. I remember when she asked me if I was going to be okay without her...of course I said yes. I would have never let my mom know that I wasn't strong. I wanted her to know that I was going to be alright no matter what happened to her.
I miss her more and more each day, I play out this scene in my mind constantly. She was in the hospital, a week or less before she got to go home. She was peaceful and was lying there with her eyes closed, I couldnt help but cry, she looked over at me and said, "If you ever want to talk to me, just look up at the sky and I'll be there," she winked and smiled. It killed me inside knowing I would no longer get to spend the next milestones in my life with my mother, more so with her grand children. She was an amazingly strong, courageous, loving, caring, thoughtful, funny and beautiful woman.
The morning God wrapped his arms around her and took away her pain, it was cold but the sun was shining dimly amongst the sky. I have never experienced something so life changing, something so sad.
After all of the arrangements and meetings with family and friends, I had gotten home and felt like I wanted to do something in honor of my mom. I wanted to fight Colon Cancer for her even though it had already taken her life. My mom was a fighter, she was a believer, she was positive and never gave up on life. I wanted to win this battle for her! I began "Googling" Colon Cancer Awareness", I initially wanted to start a foundation or something in her memory to help people become aware of the benefits of a Colonoscopy. I had just gotten one myself, by the way and it wasn't so bad! I stumbled across the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation's website. I found that their organization which is out of NYC put on a 4 mile run and a 15k run every year in support of Colon Cancer Awareness. From the moment I read it, I knew I had to challenge myself to do something I never would have done before. I knew I had to do something different with my life to fill the void I was having without my own mother their by my side to guide me. That is when my wonderful friend Jennifer Hubber came along and was on board with me. At first I had thought, how is this going to work? She lives in Oregon and I live in Wyoming...how are we going to train for a 10 mile run from afar? But let me tell you ladies and gents, she is the best running partner you could ever have! She is the most caring, thoughtful, positive and encouraging person to have at your side, running with you...even from afar! We are currently in our 22nd week of training and have had to really help each other mentally and physically overcome this obstacle! You see, Jen and I were never really distance runners, or die hard athletes! Jen participated in track and volleyball in Middle school and high school and I was involved with cheerleading all through high school and college. We had never considered ourselves to be "runners" exactly but we have worked extremely hard and have overcome many obstacles.
We now have many members on our team that will be running with us in New York and they are all running because this is a challenge! We have all experienced a loss of a loved one and whether it was from Colon Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer or Cancer in general, CANCER IS CANCER! We need to find a cure and fight for our family and friends whom we've lost, are survivors and who are now fighting these courageous battles!
ANGELS WITH ATTITUDE WILL SOAR HIGH!!!
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