Work and play on Halloween

By Noreen Fraser

Published October 28, 2015

Double Halloween pumpkin head. Cold back light, scary smiling, warm light inside head. (© Michal Napartowicz)

I have always loved Halloween. It brings back such great memories. Mack dressed up as a lion, his blonde curls popping out of his costume creating a real mane. Madeline was as sweet as can be in one of her many girlie costumes.

It's so much fun to pretend. If I could pick something to "be" for Halloween, I would "be" completely healthy. Such a simple thing. I wouldn't need a wig (at least not this month), special effects make up, or a costume. It would be so liberating to take a break from it all: the pain, the neuropathy, the jaw infection and especially the worrying. Some of you know what I am talking about. For us, ghosts and goblins are nothing compared to our cancer diagnoses.

Of course, in reality, I can't take a break from it all so I will continue to do the next best thing – fight for research, early prevention and detection.

October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I worked my heart out to try to raise funds for women's cancer research and raise awareness of the importance of prevention and early detection. I appeared on television, partnered with Stella & Dot, Harry & David, andmany other corporate and individual sponsors to raise money for the Noreen Fraser Foundation. I worked on our upcoming gala fundraiser, took meeting upon meeting and spoke on a panel with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz about breast cancer research and prevention.

And guess what? I'm not done!

Next week I will attend a Breast Cancer Awareness Reception at the home of the vice president and Dr. Jill Biden. I am honored to be included. The second lady is a tremendous force in the fight for early prevention and detection. I will look forward to telling you all about it in my next blog post. After that, it is onward and upward with our annual fundraiser, Variety Power of Comedy, where we will be honoring Jimmy Kimmel and raising money for women's cancer research.

In the meantime, enjoy your Halloween, and if you have little ones, treasure these moments. I want to send my heartfelt thank you to Stella & Dot, Harry & David, the Chicago Social Stimulus Club, the SLS Beverly Hills Hotel, Cristina Ferrare, Lewis Kay and Variety Magazine for all of the support.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/health/work-and-play-on-halloween