DateYourselfGirl isn't just about being single, dating, and relationships. It's also a platform to give back to the community, educate women, and to spread love all across the board! This post is very personal to me but I hope it will inspire and empower you. Breast Cancer/Cancer has been a disease that has seemed to plague those I love for about 5 years now. First my aunt was diagnosed in 2010 and had to have a double mastectomy, my mother was diagnosed in 2012 and went through radiation treatment then the following year she had to have a surgical procedure done to remove Cancer from her colon, and now my dear friend Sameerah Abdul-Jami is battling Stage 3 Breast Cancer.
I met Sameerah back in 1998 in college at Tennessee State University and later became her roommate while we both attended The Theatre School at DePaul University. We shared and still do share a passion for acting and the arts. One thing that Sameerah taught me was how to smile through the tough times. We were broke college students preparing to enter a field full of uncertainty and a fluctuating income from zero to well...zero. We would take jobs to help supplement our income but our passion was to become working actors. We weren't looking for fame or status. We just wanted to do what we loved and be able to pay our $400 a month rent. Now that may seem like pennies to you but coupled with poor living conditions and a slum lord landlord it was a very rough time for us. But through it all Sameerah was the one who remained happy go lucky. Always smiling and laughing...Always finding the silver lining in every situation. Well, not much has changed. She's still very optimistic about her future as a survivor and is on a mission to educate everyone about how to better take care of your body in order to live longer, healthier lives. "It's in the food Tracey!" she says. "We have got to learn what is best for our bodies and not what just tastes good." Her position about being an advocate for finding a cure for Breast Cancer and educating us on what foods we should be ingesting gives me hope. And above anything else Sameerah is reminding me to be more grateful for the life that I have because in the drop of hat your life could change. So today I vow to be more grateful for the life that I have and more optimistic about my future.
Ladies, please talk to your physician about getting a mammogram and how you can give your own self self-checks for any lumps or abnormalties. And I want to encourage you all to become more like Sameerah Abdul-Jami. Smile through the tough times and become an advocate of being a healthier, happier you. And no matter what curve balls life may throw at you always remember that there is a silver lining in every situation. Sameerah, I just want you to know that you have empowered and inspired me and I will fight this fight alongside with you! You are a true Superhero and Superwoman!!!
To donate go to: www.gofundme.com/Sameerah
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