Check Your Boobs!

It's the 20th of the month again, and time to remind you all to "Check Your Boobs!"

It is also the third anniversary of my grandmother's death.  Luisa Bertolo (nee Mattioli) died April 20, 2009, just days short of her 99th birthday.  She thought God had forgotten her down hear here, and by the time she passed away, she had forgotten much of her own life.  Nevertheless, until she was hospitalized days before her death, she continued to be the best grandmother that we could every ask for.  Her own mother died in her nineties as well, and the family joke was that the women in this family just don't die -- you have to shoot them.

I was counting on that.  I just plain old believed that if my grandmother lived so long, so would I.  And I didn't check my boobs.  I took my life for granted.  But I don't want you to.  Please do a monthly examination of your breasts.  It could make the difference between life and death.

You can find information on how to examine your breasts at the following sites:

• from the National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.
• from the American Cancer Society
• from BreastCancer.org
• from Susan G. Komen for the Cure