Why Colored Ribbons?

I've always been a strong and capable person.  I was raised on a small farm by parents who grew up on farms.  I was taught to work and when the work was finished, grab a broom and sweep the floor.  I never had a problem with the daily list that was presented to me.  I could do anything.  I stayed home and raised my girls.  I worked nights waiting tables.  I cleaned my house and made meals for my family.  I hauled, stacked and chopped wood.  There was nothing that could stop me.  People around me had health issues that held them back, but I was capable and able and couldn't be held back. One October day, all that changed.

On October 1, 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  For the month of October, I saw pink.  October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  The school where I taught encouraged everyone to wear pink.  The football players in the NFL wore pink every Sunday.  Pink had filled my life in a new way, not just as a color I loved, but as a color that identified me.

Two years after my last radiation treatment, I went to the emergency room to find out why I was drooling out the side of my mouth like a baby.  The left side of my face wouldn't move.  It wasn't numb, it just wouldn't move.  The muscles acted as if they decided to go on vacation.  After a few hours, blood tests, and a brain MRI,  I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  MS ribbons are orange.

It has been over 4 years since my breast cancer diagnosis.  Four years of learning that I can't do it all.  Four years of pink and orange colored ribbons that remind me I am not perfectly healthy.  Pink ribbons and orange ribbons have changed my life.  My life is full of colored ribbons.

I know other people have colored ribbons in their lives and I want to share my story in case someone can be encouraged or helped by my journey.