A strong woman in our midst

Auntie Annie and the newest addition to the family, Max Ceja.

This is my Auntie Annie. Annie Ybarra, to be exact.

Anyone who has ever met her remembers her. Why? Because she is who she is and she doesn't care who knows it.

Growing up, we used to visit her home in Calexico across town from my grandparents' and make rosaries. Well, we did more than make rosaries, but I remember those visits because all the girls would gather around the kitchen table full of beads, string and crosses and count out the decades.

I never actually knew what we were doing it for, but it didn't matter. We were expected to be there, and so we were. Plus, it gave us a chance to sit with the "grown ups."

When we got older, we had a chance to experience and understand our Auntie Annie in all her glory. If she wanted to dance, she danced - and she didn't care who watched. If she wanted a glass of wine, she drank a glass of wine. If she felt like singing, she sang. And to this day, she still does all of those things.

If something is on her mind, she says it. She speaks the most eloquent Spanglish I've ever heard and has a laugh that's unforgettable. It seems like a joke that I mention Spanglish, but to be completely honest, I would never know some of the Spanish words I know today if it weren't for her mixing them into conversations with English words. I took two years of Spanish in school and still remember more of what she said than what I retained from those classes.

Every get-together with her is guaranteed to be a good time. It's hard to be around her and not be happy.

I'm not sure exactly when, but she had breast cancer while I was growing up. She is a survivor - a symbol of strength. She's survived while many in my family did not. She buried many friends and family members, yet still she soldiers on.

Not everyone who motivates me to run for DetermiNation has passed on because of cancer. Some of them fought and some of them won. My Auntie Annie is one of those survivors.

It is because of the survivors I am inspired to run father and train harder. If not for the research this money supports, the cures may never have come about and they may not have succeeded in their battle.

Click here to help me in the fight.