My runway walk is in memory of my beloved son, Patrick who lost his battle with mental illness in March of 2019. I walk in solidarity with all those that have lost a loved one who has struggled with mental health issues. My hope is that beyond the grief one can find healing and hope, knowing you are never alone.

I am honored to be walking the Fashion for Friends runway in memory of my amazing younger brother, Patrick.  When my family and I lost him to mental illness seven years ago, we were forced to adapt to a world without him (physically) in it.  At the time, this felt like an impossible task.  Without the love and support of family, friends and therapeutic measures, it would have been.  Our hope is to spread the love and compassion we were graced with to others who may be navigating similar suffering.  

I am proud to support Fashion for Friends as a survivor of breast cancer. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 at age 35. As a wife and mom to two beautiful boys, ages 5 and 3 at the time, my world was completely rocked by this diagnosis. After countless invasive tests, three months of chemotherapy, two surgeries, five weeks of radiation, and one year of immunotherapy, I am now over four years in remission. Throughout my journey, my family and friends have been both my motivation and support system. I am grateful to now be in a position to help raise awareness and necessary funds to help those impacted by mental health conditions and breast cancer.

Twenty-six years ago, I lost my father to mental illness.  At this point in my life, the people I know and love who never met my father far outnumber those who did.  Acknowledging this fact is painful.  In many ways, it feels like it reaffirms the loss.  When Fashion for Friends invited me to walk in his memory, they gave me the opportunity to honor and share his story - to bring his memory back to life.

​

Today, alongside this group of incredible women, I walk for my father, Wenpu Yan.  And I offer solidarity to all those who carry their own invisible losses and struggles.  You are not alone.

I am here today walking in memory of our beautiful son, Alex. Alex was a bright light who illuminated our family, his friends, and the countless children he worked with at Martin School and the YMCA. Alex suffered a brain aneurism when he was only 2 1/2 months of age. God saved him as an infant but as a result, he struggled with many physical and emotional challenges throughout his young life.

He worked tirelessly in school and overcame each obstacle with grace, courage, and tenacity. He amazed us all!

As his parents, Rick and I helped whenever we could, but we never allowed him to use his struggles as a crutch. We miss Alex every day and are sad for all he did not get to experience in his short 26 years. Our sons miss their brother and their best friend. Together we have endured this loss with the help of friends, family, counseling, our faith in God and the knowledge that we will be reunited with our beautiful son in Heaven.

Being human is the most precious gift and yet it can be the most painful.  We wrestle and grapple with the variables of the world around us and the worlds within us. Having a severe mental illness makes it painful to wake up every day and live. My brother David was 42 when he didn’t wake up on that devastating morning of Sept 28th, 2024. He suffered silently in a life hidden from the truth of his reality. It hides in the darkness until it doesn’t anymore. Mental illness consumes you, but it can never take your soul. David will forever be a sweet soul in my heart. I will always remember him as my baby brother, the soccer star, and inventor of a better way. I want to walk in honor of the boy and the man he was, and know that he fought a tremendous fight to survive his mental illness. This is why I walk today for Friends and Fashion. 

I’m honored to take part in this incredible event and walk the runway in memory of my beloved son, Kyle. Through his legacy, many young adults have found the courage to speak openly and honestly about their mental health struggles. He walks beside me every day. 

Of all of the things I thought I might have the privilege to do during my life, a runway walk as a model, was not one of them! But, here I am as a two time breast cancer survivor, feeling honored and humbled to be walking this most important of runways! I walk the Fashion for Friends runway today for all of the women that have received scary diagnoses, journeyed through various challenging treatments, and experience the fear all of that encompasses. I walk to thank the care teams, the families, and the friends that support women throughout these uninvited journeys. And, I proudly walk to represent all people experiencing and living with a “diagnosis", whether it is breast cancer, a mental health condition, or anything else, it does not define a person in any way, it can even have a positive impact on how you live the rest of your life.  Events such as Fashion for Friends are an important part of shining a light on some challenging health conditions, raising much needed funds for research, improved interventions, eventual cures, and to give hope to those that are walking these paths now and will be in the future.  I am grateful to be living a full life, and am thankful to have the opportunity to share the runway with such incredible and strong people.