Secret Society of Women

I had dinner last Thursday with some good friends. It was one of those multi-purpose dinners where we were celebrating my belated bday, A's new job, and of course, finishing (or as N would like to say- surviving) the Nike Marathon. Mary and I got there early so we took the opportunity to get a drink at the bar. Nola's mojitos are pretty good and I was hungry so I gulped down my drink. By the time N and A showed up, I was ready for another drink.

As we waited to be seated, N remarked how we were all wearing our Nike Marathon necklaces. She said: it's like we're all in a sorority or something. We all laughed at the idea of being a part of a secret society of women.

As we sat down to dinner, I was thinking about how remarkable it is that all four of us finished the Nike Marathon. The necklace does in a way symbolize our shared accomplishment. This sense of shared experience is also special to me because we're all great friends who enjoy spending time together. I asked everyone if they were interested in running it again next year. Mary was excited but N and A were less so. I think I'd be interested in doing it again simply because running through SF in that way was amazing and seeing all the other people do it was encouraging and energizing. Even though I know that some or maybe a lot of women are doing it for the Tiffany's-designed finisher necklace, at least they are contributing to the efforts of raising awareness about blood cancer.

I was also thinking about whether or not I'd come back to TNT as a mentor. As I said before I'm trying to make it out to trainings for the rest of the season, but coming back as a mentor is another thing I'm not so sure about. One thing I've noticed about the organization is that, at least on the Peninsula team, the group isn't very diverse. I would love to see more diversity in participants and honorees especially to tell their stories. I know people of color get blood cancer because I've already had so many personal experiences with family and friends who are Asian American that were diagnosed. The only time I saw minority faces was in the honoree handout at the pasta party in which different chapters submitted information about their honorees.

It would be great to also acknowledge that there are poor people and people who can't afford treatment or don't know how to access health care because they are undocumented, are uninsured, or don't speak English good enough to get care, that get blood cancer as well. How are TNT funds helping them on a day to day basis if they aren't connected to in some way or know about TNT's cause? We can't neglect those folks because the uncertainties that come with being disadvantaged make the suffering so much more difficult to bear. Being born into disadvantaged situations shouldn't mean that diagnosis, treatment, and survival is significantly limited because of the race and class. I'm not just talking about poor or disadvantaged people of color, I am also talking about white folks as well. After all, whites comprise the greatest number on welfare (not blacks as some erroneously believe). How are we helping folks of all walks of life and diverse backgrounds survive?