Mary Elizabeth Clemons  – (1946 – 2000) 

The Clemons home was were you could always count on a hot meal and good conversation. All the neighborhood kids hung out at the Clemons house. If you needed a place to stay, her door was always open. She was known to just about everyone as “Auntie Mary.”

Mary was a homemaker for most of her married adult life. Caring for her husband and children was a full-time job. Mary had never worked outside of the home and thought she had no real skills to offer in the employment world. It was a longtime family friend who convinced her to use her natural mother’s wit to care for Special Needs Children through the County of Alameda, Foster Care Program.

After successfully completing all the required classes, Auntie Mary and Uncle Bob began caring for At-Risk Children through the County of Alameda. Many of the children she cared for were infants that had been born drug dependant or were temporary Wards of the Court.

Mary was thrilled at the idea of having a real job. She was almost too excited to cash the first check she had ever earned in life. It was cause to celebrate. For several years, we all got attached to many of the children that came through the Clemons home through the Foster Care Program.
In 2000, Mary succumbed to Breast Cancer. I was there by her side when she whispered her last words to me and then peaceful closed her eyes and passed away. It rendered me helpless. For the first time in my life, there was absolutely no words that could express the pain and agony I was feeling as I watched her slip away.Tragically that would all soon end. In 1998, Mary was diagnosed with an advanced stage of Breast Cancer. Because she had not received regular annual mammograms, the cancer went undetected and as a result, her condition was terminal. Although the hospital did try an aggressive form of chemotherapy, due to her size, and limited available treatments the cancer was considered inoperable. During this lenthly ordeal, Uncle Bob died suddenly of a massive heart attack.

One of the doctors who performed her final examination said “It was not simply Breast Cancer that caused her death but also obesity.” My emotions went from sadness to rage. Not truly understanding that perhaps a routine examination and an annual mammogram were not the only things that were important factors to consider.

Mary’s weight made it very uncomfortable and almost impossible for her to get a mammogram. She had struggled with her weight practically all her life and especially after the birth of her children. Medical Research had not developed the technology that is currently in place today; to accommodate women of large stature.

It is with a sense of compassion and through research and education that we will develop the means to treat all patients and eventually find a cure. Mary Clemons is just one example of why every women should “take it personal.”