They always say it takes a village. I am proof of that. I was raised by a single mom who constantly had to turn to her 'village' for support as she had two kids and a full time job. This is how my grandmother, “Damma”, became my first best friend. I spent every day with her watching TV, playing games, and coloring outside the lines. She was my second mother and I loved her more than anything. She got diagnosed with colon cancer when I was in third grade. Although I was young, I wasn’t too young to notice her suffering. Her body began to fail her and it grew weaker and weaker as her hospital stays lengthened. My grandmother, my Damma, lost her battle to cancer in 2003. 

Nearly a decade later when I was a freshman on the women’s hockey team at UMass Amherst, I drove back to Boston to watch my high school team play in states. My mom met me at the game and after the game in the car she turned to me and told me my auntie Julie was diagnosed with cancer. My heart sank. Not again. Not my other second mother. Not another member of my village. Everyone knows Auntie Julie is the life of every party but for the next couple years I watched as cancer sucked the life out of her. Fortunately, auntie kicked cancer’s ass and she is still here with us today. 

Fast forward a few years later. I began working at East Boston High School in 2015, upon graduating from UMass. I quickly found out that Eastie is unlike any other neighborhood in Boston. The sense of pride and tradition echoes within and beyond the halls of EBHS. We truly are a family, a 'village'. Multiple members of our staff have battled cancer, and sadly some have lost their battle including Eastie legend Anthony Albano and just two years ago our beloved volleyball coach Vanessa Bigby lost her battle. Our headmaster’s wife and mother in law also both bravely battled cancer. Too many of my students have walked into my office trying to come to terms with their loved one’s diagnosis or dealing with the loss of a relative to cancer. Each time one of us has been faced with this horrible, unrelenting disease, Eastie rises up together. 

It will certainly take a village to #KOcancer, and that is why I am fighting with Haymakers for Hope. This write-up is not long enough for me to mention every person I know who has been impacted by cancer in one way or another. Those we’ve lost, survivors, relatives, caretakers, nurses, doctors, researchers. As I step into the ring, I will hold all of these people (in Braintree, Eastie, and beyond) in my heart; because they are the real fighters.