We can’t believe it has been ten years since the very first Beyond Boobs! calendar model was chosen for our annual A Calendar to Live By! Our calendar is also a health guide in disguise and offers a year of hope and inspiration, along with reminders to put your health first. We are beyond grateful to our generous sponsors, as well as the 100-plus calendar models who have graciously represented BB! and their fellow Boobers! over the years.
During the next several weeks on the blog you will meet the Boobers! who were chosen as calendar models for A Calendar to Live By 2017. You are also hereby invited to join us at the Pink Carpet Gala on Saturday, September 17, as we unveil this year’s calendar. See you there!
Leanne Krause was diagnosed with breast cancer twice, once in 1998 and again in 2004. A friend connected her with Beyond Boobs!, and now Leanne is proud to represent the group as a model for A Calendar to Live By 2017. She wants to serve as a guide and show other women that living life with an exclamation point post-diagnosis is possible.
Leanne is an administrative secretary for the Newport News Public School Division and is mom to two adult sons. Here she talks about her favorite day, the one thing guaranteed to make her smile, and what it means to be a calendar model.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? Why?
Right here, as everyone I love (except my brother) is here and everything I need is here (though I love to travel).
What was your first summer job as a teen?
Cashier at Captain D’s.
Describe your perfect day from beginning to end.
My entire family all together in a waterfront house with no time frame to follow or structure of any kind. Waking up when I want, doing what I want, and having everyone getting along together.
What is guaranteed to always make you smile?
A giggling baby.
What does being selected as a calendar model mean to you?
A chance to share my story with those currently in the fight. Letting them know that they too can have a future and will make it through this current nightmare.
What was the most impactful moment of your calendar model photo shoot?
I can say the shoot evolved into something I had not planned on. In my mind was that I was 55, had survived cancer twice, and am now an empty nester with no one at home to answer to. I think I am very lucky to be given a chance to share my story with other survivors as they go through their journey. I feel they can see me so very far out from my fight and they too will see 12 years, 15 years or 30 years out. As they experience the chemo and radiation, I want to instill hope that they will make it through and enjoy tomorrow, just as I have.