Sometimes it’s important to step back and think beyond what we do everyday. For me, today is one of those days.

If you’re not a women’s basketball fan, you may not know who Kay Yow was. She was the women’s basketball coach at NC State. In early January she took a leave of absence from the team. Early Saturday morning she lost her battle with breast cancer. She was only 66 years old.

She was diagnosed in 1987 and lived over 20 years with the disease.

Coach Yow was an impressive coach, but it really doesn’t matter if she led her team to more than 21 NCAA berths or if she was a sub-500 Division III coach. By all accounts she was a great person who always put others before herself.

This topic is close to  me for a couple of reasons.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and is now in remission. It’s a fight that almost all the women in my family have fought. My mother’s sister, my father’s sister, and my father’s mother.

I am also a women’s basketball fan and former player. Ironically, my last collegiate game was against Kay Yow’s NC State Wolfpack. We were seeded #1 in our region of the NCAA’s. NC State was an underdog and ended up beating us in the second round.

Back then I didn’t realize the real fight Coach Yow was fighting.

It’s times like these when we need to stop our hectic lives and remember what’s really important.

If your interested in donating or getting involved with the fight against breast cancer, think about donating to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. If not, no problem. Find time to donate your money or your time to a cause that is near to your heart.