Eileen Phillips

Survivor

At the 2000 Komen Denver Race for the Cure, we were given pink balloons filled with helium. My husband, mother and father all had balloons that stayed inflated through the entire walk. They held on tight to their strings with their balloons following us high in the air. But mine started losing air and kept falling closer to the ground.

When it came time for us to release our balloons, we tied them all together and let them go. I watched with tears in my eyes as their balloons carried my little, deflating balloon up to the sky along with their balloons.

It was powerful and symbolic in that it proved I could not fight this battle alone. I needed the support of others to get me to rise again and carry me through.