Pink ribbons, pink socks, pink shirts, pink hats, pink wristbands, pink cupcakes, pink shoes, pink tattoos, pink, pink, pink. Do you ever get tired of seeing pink during October? Sometimes, I do too.

Yet, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is important for many reasons. It reminds all of us that breast cancer can touch our lives at any time. The illness first affected me on Jan. 28 1973, when my mother died at 43 years old, and no one even said the word cancer, never mind breast cancer — it was the Big C. Then it hit again on Jan. 26 1988, when my only sister died at 33 years old.

I’ve been seeing pink since 1995, when I finally got involved in the fight as an advocate for breast health. Breast cancer had already taken two generations of my family, and I was determined not to let it take a third and impact my nieces or daughters. My activism has included talking to big crowds and small crowds, organizing events, wearing pink, explaining facts, encouraging women and men to take care of themselves and each other. It’s taken me all over the U.S. and even to Cairo and Budapest for international conferences on breast health and breast cancer.

The most important thing that comes from raising awareness should be the simple idea that all women — young like many of you reading this, or old like your mothers, aunts and grandmothers — should be encouraged and informed on how to do breast self-exams. They should have access to clinical breast exams and even mammograms if they’re the right age. Pink reminds us that access to testing and early detection is the best way to survive breast cancer.

My mother was diagnosed at a much later stage than my sister, and only survived about nine months. My sister fought for four and a half years before she died. I have a niece who carries the genetic mutation BRCA1, which means her cells are more likely to develop alterations that can lead to cancer. Two of my three daughters carry the mutation too, along with myself. It’s in our genes. Pink reminds me of that.

Pink reminds me to remind my daughters to get a mammogram once a year. It reminds me to tell my friends and relatives to do the same. It reminds me to encourage all women I know to do breast self-exams every month. Most will never find anything cancerous. What they gain by doing self-exams is knowledge about their body and their health. That’s what pink does for me. It serves as a reminder to ask, to tell, to convince and to encourage women to take care of themselves.

Pink is an opportunity for men to talk to the women in their lives about taking care of themselves so they can live long, healthy lives. My niece is now 35 years old, an age my only sister never reached.

Pink reminds me that information is power, and that the more information you have, the more power you have over your body. Self-exams, clinical breast exams and mammograms give you insight so you can make informed decisions on how to seek care. That’s what I want for everyone when I see pink. Education is the key to early detection, early detection is the key to survival. Go pink!