In our house we have one man who has been sporting a moustache for decades and one who randomly runs an electric razor over his upper lip every few weeks just to make sure he doesn't grow one in.
Mo-vember is talked about, but it doesn't live here as it does in other homes in the community. My husband has threatened to shave his moustache to grow it back in November to raise some money for prostate cancer research but he's still holding on to the only adult face in the mirror he's ever known.
I see him touching his face and wanting to play along, but he may wait until next year.
The autumn months remind us to fight and raise money and awareness. September brings Terry Fox events involving children and entire communities in a fundraising push to end all cancers. October is plastered in pink to remind us to check our breasts for lumps and this year I even saw posters reminding women to have pap tests during the month.
November has been taken over by the men making it alright to speak openly about what makes many squeamish.
I have nothing against these campaigns, but these days I need no reminders that cancers still exist. When I was my daughter's age the only person I knew who had cancer was my Grandpa's best friend. He probably wasn't as old as I remember him to be when he died from the disease.
Over the years members of my own family have gone through diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation and have survived what have been called treatable forms of cancer.
Right now, in my family, in my generation, there are three people younger than I fighting for their lives. I don't need a reminder to ask my doctor serious questions about my own health because every discussion with a member of my family includes thoughts and news about treatments and possibilities.
I wrote a while ago about the number of people I knew who were battling cancer at the time. The number is still rising and in the last few months I've attended three funerals for people in our community who have lost the battle.
In an age when life expectancies have been rising they fell short of the mark. One was in his early 70s, but the other two were in their 50s.
We don't have to be afraid ,but we do have to keep seeking, keep paying attention to our own body's signals and maybe just remembering to say, "I love you" when we're able, a little bit more often.
