Amy

ANGOLA, INDIANA - "I'm the first" she told me, "first in just about everything you don’t want to have to go through in life" and then she laughed really hard.She's just a delight, my new friend, Amy, because she is constantly positive. It's obvious from the first moment you meet her; she really exudes that kind of everything-will-be-just-fine attitude. So sweet and refreshing!

Of course, her situation is totally serious. Not a laughing matter at all. She's the first of her friends to get breast cancer, she told me. THAT kind of first. But just in her short journey with this disease, her impact is being made aware to everyone. Many of her dear friends immediately went to get mammograms when she was diagnosed. Two of them received call-backs for suspicious reads of those scans. Just like that, she transitioned from patient to advocate. To life-changer. To hope-giver and inspiration. Just like that.

She does tell her friends that they need not worry. "If it’s a one in eight situation" she says, "I'll be your one. Just be sure to only have 8 friends!" And then I hear that laugh again. Delightful. :)