What are Go Red for Women Ambassadors?

This time last year I had no idea who or what the Go Red for Women Ambassadors were. I may have heard the term "go red" before but it didn't mean a thing to me. I didn't even like red! I didn't own a single piece of red clothing. I had a red wall in my house because my husband's favorite color is red and I kept peace during a major remodel by not arguing with him over his choice of red for a small wall in our home. I pretty much avoided red as much as possible.

Then a series of events happened and now I have a closet that is looking pretty red these days. In the Summer of 2009 I had the idea to speak to REALTORS about the warning signs of heart disease. I had been a REALTOR for 22 years (hence I only know how to spell REALTOR in caps!) and my late husband, who was a REALTOR, died of a heart attack back in 2001. Later, after I learned the warning signs of heart disease I realized he had exhibited many of them for days, if not weeks, before he died. With the real estate market looking really bleak that Summer it occured to me that REALTORS were incredibly stressed, in an already stressful business at the best of times, and I wanted to do something for them.

I approached a friend from the American Heart Association to tell her all about my idea and asked her if she could help me with handouts listing the warning signs of heart disease. She said something to the effect of: "Dyann, that sounds like a Go Red for Women Ambassador program. Would you be willing to lead it?". That was my first formal introduction to Go Red and little did I know, that, soon I was going to be hooked. After several meetings she connected me with interested women in our community that had stories of survival they wanted to share. I began to invite some of my own friends and found out that many of them had stories too. One dear friend's favorite color is red, so I invited her and darn if she didn't have a great story of survival of her own to share!

Since then we have the beginnings of a thriving Go Red for Women Ambassador program in Tacoma and I am having the time of my life with so many exceptional women who all have a passion to share their stories with the intention of making a difference in our community. Just today three of us spoke at the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency to a group of people that take their health seriously. What a pleasure it was for us to share information that can change the lives of people in that room or perhaps someone they love.

I Go Red to save lives.

Bye for now,
Dyann