"Raise Your Glass: Cocktails Curing Cancer" Guest Post By Renee Dall

I am very excited to have a guest post this week. With Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October I wanted Renee to share her story on how Cocktails Curing Cancer was born. As a woman, a mother and someone who is a supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness I have admired Renee and the hard work, passion, dedication, and commitment she has put into being the voice she is for Breast Cancer Awareness. Thank you Renee for this post and all you do! 

There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of Champagne.
~Bette Davis

In 2007 I became a mother to a little girl.  In 2008 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I remember sitting on my parents deck having a drink, realizing that my mom was mortal, and that someday, my sweet little 10 month old could be sitting there with the same realization about me.   Feeling called to action to “fix” this situation, I was unsure of how to proceed.  It seemed unlikely that I could become a highly trained surgeon in the next 48 hours, nor could I find a cure for cancer given my non-existent science background.  I’m also not really great with finding the right words to say in delicate situations.  The best I could come up with, as I was pouring us all another glass of wine was “if alcohol can kill germs, why not cancer”?  Deep thoughts by Renee right there.

Fast forward a couple of days – I’m still trying to figure out how to control this situation, my mom is preparing for surgery, and fate intervenes.  While driving to work, I hear an ad for the first Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Vermont.  The skies opened up, and the angels sang “Control Freak – here is something you can do!” in melodic tones.  I pretty much stalked Amy, the American Cancer Society employee, who was planning the walk.  And then I cried during their committee meeting.  Once you cry in front of strangers – you are pretty much fully committed.  I promised that I would raise $2000 for this walk.  I had NO idea how to raise that much money.  NONE.  I emailed everyone I knew, talked the local pizza joint into hosting a fundraising night, and was still about $1000 away.  So I decided to have a party.  In all honesty – I suspected it was going to be my friends and I sitting at a bar, tossing change into a bucket and calling it a fundraiser.  I reached out to my favorite bar at the time, Drink, and asked if we could hang out there.  And this is where bliss began.  Melissa’s mother was a cancer patient as well – and she donated the use of their event room.  Then I found a caterer – who MADE me call a woman she knew…who knew a million other women. Before you knew it – Cocktails Curing Cancer was a REAL EVENT!  We had food, prizes and sold all 60 tickets!  We raised the $1000 dollars, had fun, and decided to do it again. And again…and again…you see where this is going, right?

Each of our 8 years we’ve grown.  From that 60 person party consisting of my family and friends, to this year’s upcoming event with over 300 guests and a goal of $20,000 – I’m always blown away.  Mostly, I’m blown away by the people who help.  That first year, women who didn’t know me – who had never met me – stepped up and said “Yes, I’ll help”.  And then got others involved. The third year of Cocktails I came down with a severe case of viral meningitis, was hospitalized, and unable to function.  Women from across my life – work, community, kids activities, many of whom didn’t know me well and certainly didn’t know each other – stepped up and ran the event.  They’ve since all become dear friends and board members – but they started as life-savers. Sponsors bring other sponsors, guests become sponsors and prize donors, companies now ASK to be involved!

Women can be tough on each other.  But we can, and do, raise each other up when the sh*t hits the fan.  While I’ll never say that I’m glad breast cancer has entered my world, I will say it has brought blessings I never expected.  

And with that – I encourage you to find your calling, and raise up other women (and a glass of bubbly) to help them find theirs.  (And of course – feel free to join us October 1, 2015 – there are a couple VIP tickets left! www.cocktailscuringcancer.com)

Cheers!

Hurray For Boobies!

Seriously who knew "Boobies" could be so awesome! They truly are amazing. We as women, are truly amazing. Our bodies are spectacular vessels that not only give life to little creatures, they also can feed these little guys. That right there my friends, is beyond beautiful.

August is National Breastfeeding Month. I was fortunate to nurse my first son for 18 months and am now nursing my second son who is 10 1/2 months. I would share my story but I am going to leave that up to a dear friend. See Liz from Because Mama Needs a Hobby will be doing posts throughout the month about women and their personal breastfeeding stories. We all have a different story. A journey all our own. Each of us enters motherhood writing our own stories. Check out her blog and take time to read these posts!

I was thrilled to be a part of The Big Latch On that took place in Landry Park, put on by the awesome crew of women from Burlington VT Moms Blog. I was one of 40 woman and their beautiful babies. All nursing our children at 10:30am on Friday, August 1st, 2014. This event was empowering, uniting, and beautiful.

I want to also stress how very fortunate I am that I was able to successfully nurse. Some women choose not to, which is OK! Then there are others who yearn to and for whatever reason can't. This can be heartbreaking. I know that it takes mama + baby to make it work. Both my boys were pros and came out ready to latch. For this I am blessed. I will never take for granted how special this is.

No matter if you nursed, pumped and bottle fed, or chose to use formula, (maybe all of the above!) you all are wonderful! You brought new life into this world. That within itself is phenomenal! 

The Other Woman

The other woman, she is the one I confide in, lean on, vent to, and cry to. She understands me, feels what I feel and makes me feel like I am normal. Some days I feel absolutely crazy. I am not sure that I would want to be a fly on the wall some days and look at me. Okay, so really, I don't ever want to see some of these days. I know they can be ugly and there are days I become this person I never knew I could be. Ahh, thank you for this my child. Let's all be honest here. We love our children. We can't imagine life without them. They are the most incredible things we have ever done. Most days, we do a damn good job of being the best kick ass mom out there. Then there are those other days. You know the ones I am talking about, the ones where you end up crying, maybe even yelling. I always thought I was a patient person...then I had kids!

Then something wonderful happens. I hang out with that "other woman" The one who is just like me! The other mom! Yes her, the one you do play dates with. The woman you text or call when you feel like you have hit a wall. That one you watch and think "she has got it together". That lady, yes, she has those days too.

A lot of woman talk about losing friendships when they have children. How it changes with certain people, especially with those who don't have children. I like to look at this in a different way. I want to talk about the friendships that I have gained! I feel blessed to have become a mother around the same time some of my dearest friends have. I am fortunate that in becoming a mother, I have met some beautiful women that I am happy and fortunate to call my friends.

These friendships are sacred. It doesn't mean you have to see them everyday. There are times you may go days or months without seeing them. It's most important to just remember that at the end of the day, a particularly bad one, that she is there! So thank you my fellow mommy's! Remember that you are amazing, beautiful and strong!