We Are Holley
There is a group of women, a great tribe in fact, of Strength, Unity and Support. It’s a group none of us ever wanted to be a part of and now none of us would ever want to imagine our life without it.
We are the tribe of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder, side-by-side in support of one another. We hold each other up, we ease each others burdens. We lean on our sisters and hold on for support when we need it. Our resolve to keep going only gets stronger as we walk this journey together, with love as our driving force.
When one of us gets diagnosed or finds out her cancer has returned, we all get re-diagnosed. We all take the emotional hit, feel the blow and the weight of the news we all fear. We go through the process of remembering what it felt like to tell our family members about our first diagnosis all over again. Remember how it felt to have so many questions and so few answers. And wonder if we could go through it all again. We cry for our sister and lift her up because we know that she has no other choice now, and we realize that it could happen to any one of us. We are one.
Holley Kitchen, a vibrant, witty, beautiful young mother of two boys and wife was diagnosed at age 39 with breast cancer. A year later she thought her treatments were over and that her battle was done. Only to find out it had just begun. Holley was later re-diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in her spine and bones. She became known for her video (below) educating people about what metastatic breast cancer is. There is no cure. Holley died in January 2016 of metastatic breast cancer.
We Are Holley, I wrote this to honor her, I never met her but I felt the loss of her in the breast cancer community profoundly. Our hearts continually go out to her family.
Breast Cancer can and will happen to anyone
40,000 women in the US die every year from metastatic breast cancer
There is no cure
Currently only 7% of breast cancer funds raised go towards metastatic breast cancer
We are not an exclusive group, we are warm and welcoming, although we would love it if, we never needed to add any new members. We keep losing our sisters and yet our tribe is still growing.
In a show of solidarity in support of each other, our sisters lost, and to the cause of metastatic breast cancer I invite you to share this post and share your photo or story and start by using the hashtag #weareholley and add another hashtag using the name of the woman you wish to honor when you share. #wearebrenda #wearejunelle #wearelinda #wearerobin Please include our donation link.
For those of you wanting to do more, 100% of donations made HERE will go to metastatic breast cancer research and patients. Please join us in this important movement to get the message out and raise funds to fight this horrible disease.
Please make a donation HERE
When one of our sisters, a member of our tribe is taken from us, we all lose. Our society loses, we lose a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, a woman, and her incredible contributions to our world. We collectively mourn for our sister and for one another, and collectively we live brighter in their honor. #weareholley
