Lisa stayed the night at her mother’s house. During the stay, her mom, Marlene Brown, started talking to Lisa, telling her she had not gotten a mammogram in five years. The mood changed and Lisa was battling the words to ask why Marlene had not done so as sadness filled her chest. Instead, Lisa just listened.

She listened to the reasons why her mom was feeling the way she was. Lisa just wanted to be there for her mom and help in any way that she could.

Social Worker Lisa Vernon finds joy in her job from working with students and parents. She works as a partner to support everyone in school from students to administration. Lisa helps people work through and fix hardships in their lives, but little does the student body know that Lisa has a hardship of her own. Recently, Lisa’s mom has been battling breast cancer. Lisa’s family has a history of breast cancer that has taken many women in her family. One of Lisa’s friends sparked an idea in her to print a shirt that represents breast cancer.

When Lisa’s mom, Marlene Brown, was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was 79. Marlene had seen how her own mom struggled through the process of chemo and its effects. Marlene decided she didn’t want to go through that process because of her age.

“So I was at the first appointment when she got diagnosed, and the doctor said ‘I think it might be cancer,’ Lisa said. “My mom was just like, ‘I’m not doing anything. I’m 79 and I’m not gonna go through that.’”

Lisa’s sister, Tammora Thomas-Pruitt, has also played a big role in her mother’s journey. One day, when Tammora was out, she ran into an old friend. Her old friend was a breast cancer surgeon. They hoped that this friend could convince their mom to get surgery to remove the cancer. Marlene went back and forth between doing surgery, and in the end, decided to get the procedure.

“She decided she was going to have the surgery,” Lisa said “It took her some time to decide and we didn’t pressure her because we know the importance of making that decision on your own.”

While working in her outside practice, Lisa met an artist, Alton G. Cooper, who had three brain aneurysms and three strokes. During his journey, his girlfriend nursed him back to health as well as helped him paint again. His girlfriend died later because of breast cancer. Cooper wanted to host an art show celebrating women who had or have breast cancer and the families affected.

“The art show is to celebrate breast cancer families and survivors,” Lisa said. “Mr Cooper is going to talk about his story and do a live demo of his abstract art.”

For the art show, Lisa wanted to print a shirt that Cooper created for breast cancer. She started asking teachers where she could get this shirt printed for the upcoming art show. Because it had many colors, some places would not print it. When teachers saw the shirt they replied back saying they wanted one because they had been affected by breast cancer, whether it was themselves or family members.

“The shirt idea was me emailing all the teachers, ‘Who do y’all know that I can get this shirt printed of this amazing artist who wants to do something for the art show,’ Lisa said. “When I started doing that, teachers were like ‘I want one of those. I’ve been affected, I want one of those. My wife has been affected, I want one of those. My mom passed away of breast cancer.’”

This started the idea of printing shirts for people who wanted one according to Lisa. The shirts will hopefully be printed in by November.

“I got another idea for the shirt so I’m gonna definitely have them made, no matter if it’s this month or next month,” Lisa said. “I still haven’t found who’s gonna print the shirt because it’s so many colors. It’s beautiful.”

One in eight women will develop breast cancer, meaning most people will either suffer from the disease, or know someone around them who does, affecting everyone emotionally. Lisa has learned many things throughout this journey with her mom and family. She’s learned how to love her mom, as well as deal with her own feelings.

“I am being very intentional with my time with her, my calls with her, and also journaling my own journey in this and making sure I take care of myself,” Lisa said. “My advice is to allow the person who that disease lives in their body, allow them the space to grieve, to process, to determine their next step. And it may change, and be okay with that, cause it’s scary and it hurts and it’s unknown and it’s painful. So all of those emotions packed into one, you’ve got to just allow yourself along for the ride. Put options out there, but don’t put personal opinions out there, because you are not the one that has to live with that every day.”