Making Strides Reflections News Today

My story is one that I feel may be quite different than some people in the “cancer community” but I hope is still relatable.My passion is lit from perhaps a more distant perspective. I found it a struggle to even put into words why I Make Strides...

I spoke at the kick-off event for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of NH in August of this year. It was an opportunity to reflect on my long nursing career and how being an oncology nurse and a woman diagnosed with early stage breast cancer has...

Cancer is something that affects everyone differently, in ways I cannot come to fully comprehend. The very recent loss of a colleague and friend gave me pause to reflect on the trickle effect cancer has in so many lives, from diagnosis, to treatment,...

Fifteen or so years ago, I was commissioned by the Concord Monitor to photograph the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Concord. I was struck (the perfect word to describe the feeling) by the palpable emotion of the hundreds of people,...

My intense passion to support my friend, diagnosed with breast cancer at 29, was at the beginning of my experience, along with the unwelcome surprise of not seeing more men at my first Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event, back in 1997.I was...

Cancer is a word our family and friends have unfortunately always been accustomed to hearing.Cancer, or “The Big C” as we often refer to it, has stolen time with loved ones for as long as I can remember. From an early age, I felt helpless.The...

Coming from a family of four sisters, Michelle, Melinda, Melanie and Marcia, it was bound to happen.A breast cancer diagnosis seemed inevitable and it did for number three of the M’s in the spring of 2020. Melanie Jean Lacroix Shokal, my hero and my...

Whenever I’m asked why I participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of New Hampshire, I always say because someone asked, and I said “yes.” That’s mostly true, but there is a reality that we’ve all been affected by cancer in one way or...

Almost 20 years ago former girls’ volleyball coach Matthew Skidds, now assistant headmaster at Coe Brown Northwood Academy, approached me about getting our girls’ sports teams involved in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. I thought it was...

Cancer, the one word you hope you never have to hear. Sadly, that is not the case for so many people. I have experienced the grief that comes with losing a loved one as a result of this devastating disease. The loss of a mother, grandmother and aunt...