In October 2013, my high school friend Tabby Vona was diagnosed with stage 4, triple negative breast cancer.  I had never known anyone my age with cancer before, and to be honest it really scared me and hit very close to home for several reasons.  My Paternal grandmother and Maternal Great Aunt had lost their battle with breast cancer when I was a teenager, so I have always supported breast cancer research, but Tabby has a son just a little bit older than my daughter. She has a husband, sisters, a million friends and people that love, support, and need her. How could this happen to a 42 year old woman that I know? This is usually something I see on a morning news show or a Facebook post. These are literally all things that ran through my mind as I read the announcement on her Facebook page to all of her friends. I had tears running down my face as I read it to my husband, and then immediately texted my friend Kelly, a mutual high school friend of ours. We both began to think about what we could do to help. I told Kelly about the Me Strong foundation and that I thought it would be a great idea to start a team for the upcoming 5K that January. Sort of a cheerleading squad for her, so she would know we were supporting her, cheering her on, and pushing her to get better. We asked another high school friend, Jenny to join us. Her father had recently lost his battle with cancer, so she was more than willing to jump in with both feet and help cheer Tabby on as she fights the biggest battle of her life!

So, we started a Team Tabby Facebook page and it took off from there. We encouraged people to join the Facebook page and then register for the Me Strong race. By the 2013 race day, we had almost 140 registered participants! Our goal was originally 50; so to say that we were overwhelmed by the response is an understatement! Tabby was not able to walk last year, and may not be able to walk this year, but she is still here, still fighting, and we are currently working on building Team Tabby even bigger than last year!

In addition to building the team bigger this year, we will be fundraising for Me Strong, and Tabby wants the team’s focus to include honoring her friends and family who have someone fighting or lost their fight to cancer.

“Team Tabby is more than just about me, we are friends who believe in supporting each other...” –Tabby Vona