October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and with the attempt to raise awareness for lives lost comes a celebration of those who have survived. Cindy Holmes and her family are survivors of their own personal war against breast cancer. 

Every year, they participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which benefits local and national breast cancer patients and research. Holmes, one of the 40,000 women affected each year by breast cancer, got up early with her family that morning to celebrate her journey. 

“This is my first year not being in the hospital, no surgeries, no nothing,” said Holmes, a mother of three now-grown children.  

Her son Cory was overseas serving in the Air Force when he learned of his mother’s diagnosis. “I was in tears, because I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Holmes and her husband, Steve, said breaking the news to their son was devastating. “It was just so heartbreaking, we had to tell him and he had no family around him,” she said.

Cindy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” she said. “I cried that whole weekend.”

Thankfully, she said she had the support of her family from day one: “She was a real trooper,” Cory recalled. “She didn’t complain once. She just fought on until she won.”

And Holmes was grateful for the constant love. Between her husband going to chemo with her and her children attending her appointments, she was never alone.

To her son, this was second nature. “She was always there for us. Anything we needed or wanted, she would get for us,” Cory said, adding that he had to be there for her in her time of need.

The support didn’t stop there. Cory cut his hair, decked out his car with breast cancer logos and pink rims, and the rest of the family joined in with matching pink ribbon tattoos. 

Holmes chuckled when asked about her son’s support. “If it comes out something new, he’s got it,” she said.

And Cory’s siblings made sure not to be left out. “My other son is wearing pink hair right now!” Cindy joked.

Aside from their undying support for each other, perhaps the most encouraging takeaway of the Holmes’ story is their sense of humor, evident in their Race for the Cure team name, which fit the fight just right with the words “Stop The War In My Rack” printed in camouflage letters. 

“We love it, so we wanted to carry it on for him and for me,” Holmes said of the slogan that shouted support for both cancer research and the American troops.

But it’s not all fun – while the Holmes family was lucky, many families were there to remember those lost.

“We just need to find a cure so we can stop this,” Cory said.

85 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are just like Cindy and have no family history of the disease, showing the importance of Race for the Cure as it promotes early screening and testing.

“It not only saves lives; it helps people. It helps people get those tests, and for people that can’t afford it or don’t have insurance, they have support,” Holmes said.

“Anybody can get through it, you just have to have support,” Steve said. “Our family has always been extremely close and this just brought us closer together. Everyday we have is a gift.”

Reach Contributor Alexa Liacko here; follow her on Twitter here.