Yesterday was a wonderful Mother’s Day. It started off with a great breakfast prepared by my husband and children and ended with a super night at the Fisher Theater seeing Annie. The kids loved it and it was fun to watch them enjoy it so much. I loved it too. In between, we had a soccer game (kids against adults because the other team did not show up). And I even scored a goal. As I went through the day, I couldn’t help but think about all the people who didn’t get to share Mother’s Day with their mother because of breast cancer. Especially the younger women diagnosed too late and leaving young children. Consider this:

• Each year, 10,000 women under age 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer.

• 1,000 of these women will die.

• Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women under 40.

Breast cancer awareness has traditionally been focused on women over the age of 40. Today, we have the opportunity to change the faces of breast cancer awareness advertising and education by supporting the EARLY Act. I encourage you to help keep more mothers celebrating Mother’s Day with their children by sending a note to your representative. It’s simple and takes less than 5 minutes but it can change so many lives. Do it for your daughters, your sisters, your friends and your mothers. Let’s continue to fight this disease together.

Two of the many reasons why I continue to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer — my daughter and my mom.