A Friend Fighting for a Warrior, Jennifer Lax

"A friend fighting for a warrior"

I placed this quote on a photo, above a donation box, behind of some breast cancer awareness pins, of my friend. 300 or so pins; some with a butterfly, some a different color and some with letters on it. All for a warrior fighting the battle of a life time. To date I've raised $52.00 at my vendor tables; to lessen the burden of life happening, as some say.

I met Kennth Lax in 2017 when I stumbled into a career that saved my life. Ken was a supervisor in the work place and oh was he a no nonsense type of guy. Skip the story and 7 years later, trained, befriended and bonded as brothers, Ken's family is my family. On this journey we have experienced life, in its beauty, its sorrow and its joy together.

In its Beauty and Joy, Ken introduced me to his graceful girlfriend, and now resilient mother and wife Jen. Jen has always been a voice of reason echoing from behind while we played Call of duty or on the phone going on about work or politics.

In April of 2024 Ken called me and with a somber tone said he wanted to tell me something. For context he's a straight shooter, doesn't beat around the bush and for as long as I've known him fights his battles silently. "Stage 2 triple negative aggressive breast cancer" he said. If I'm being honest, I had no idea what that actually meant but cancer and his wife in the same sentence, wasn't good. Without skipping a beat, I said "Ken, you really are batting a 1,000". It was an attempt to lighten the mood and avoid the overwhelming anxiety I felt. Unfortunately, from the loss of his beloved sister Casey, numerous surgeries and some personal battles, batting a thousand is an understatement.

Jennifer Lax is the warrior I write for today. Yes she's a wife, a mother of two beautiful babies, a daughter and much more to so many others. To me, she's a friend, that voice of reason and a ray of sunshine in a gloomy world. Two days ago, June 10th Ken and I were on FaceTime, as we tend to be a lot and he flipped to camera to Jen. Jen's battle with cancer raised tears to my eyes that I couldn't experience through the lens of her husband. Seeing her smile, through the obvious adversity I know she's facing pierced through my own facade of strength. I didn't mention anything, what could I have said?

I turn to a community of warriors and friends of warriors fighting on their behalf to solicit your support. I, Tyler Liddie, hope to, with your help, to lessen the burden of an insurance deductible my friends face. In a time where adversity seems to be what we all have in common, we're grateful for a dollar, to a share on social media and words of faith.

Thank you <3