I am feeling a Go Red Gratitude tonight!

Tonight fifteen Go Red for Women Ambassadors met with Trina Jones in her photography studio in the Old City Hall building on the edge of downtown Tacoma. With us was our friend from the American Heart Association, Connie Hara, who is the guiding light that arranged this photo session for us. Trina was masterful as she arranged all 15 of us for a group photo with the intention of having the perfect photo for billboards around town. I was delighted and thrilled to see so many dear friends, all in red, when I arrived at Trina's studio at about 5:00 pm. As more Ambassadors arrived, hugged our hellos and got comfortable, Trina's studio became a beautiful sea of red filled with bright happy faces.

Each of the Go Red Ambassadors, who range in age from their early 20's to their early 70's, has had a personal experience with heart disease or stroke. Many have suffered one or both of these themselves and have lived to tell about it. It is in the sharing of these stories that we hope lives can be saved.

When we go to an organization for a Go Red Ambassador Presentation we have a short power point to highlight the situation: That heart disease is the number one killer of women, that a woman dies every minute of heart disease, that one out of three women will die of this disease and that it is largely preventable. Then we tell our stories. It is the stories that make the audiance want to listen a bit harder and know a bit more. They become still and serious looking until one of our ambassadors says something funny and the tension is broken with laughter. Each group we speak to is different and often they have a lot of questions for us afterwards. We stay as long as they want to talk with us and we always leave feeling like we have done a good thing.

I have grown to love these women and as our group of Go Red Ambassadors grows there are more women to get to know and fall in love with. For that I am very grateful indeed!

With love and gratitude,
Dyann