Life was altered forever for Roseboro business owner Andy Runion and his wife, Amber, on Aug. 20, 2008, when his beloved mother-in-law, Sharon Howard, passed away after her long struggle with breast cancer.

Howard, who was only 48 at the time of her passing, had fought “a good fight” against the disease and had been quite successful for several months.

“She had already beaten it,” said Runion, but just as soon as the family was feeling as if their struggle was over, Howard was told her cancer had spread to her lungs and brain.

Runion said they knew something was wrong as little as two months prior, since his mother-in-law had come down with a bad cough. When she went to the doctor to get help with the cough, that’s when it was confirmed that the disease had spread. She was given two months to live.

Even today, the loss is still painful for his family, particularly, he said, when he looks into eyes of his 6-month-old-son, Douglas Andrew Runion II, who wasn’t born in time to meet his grandmother.

Now, his family is left with memories of their beloved relative and the things which made her special to them.

“She was the kind of person who was there for everybody. You could call on her any time, day or night, for advice or wisdom,” said Runion.

And, Runion is not ashamed to admit that he and his mother-in-law were close. “She treated me just like I was her son,” said Runion.

In fact, Howard even had a special nickname for her son-in-law. “She would always call me Bud,” he said, emotion obvious in his voice.

Now, in hopes of honoring the memory of his mother-in-law who was “always ready to help,” Runion and his family decided to take action and do their part to eradicate the deadly disease from the planet.

He decided to stand united with the National Breast Cancer Foundation by giving 100 percent of all proceeds from his car wash during October to the organization so other families may not have to suffer from such a tragic death.

In addition, he will also hold a yard sale on Oct. 31, with some of those funds going to breast cancer research. On this day, he will also tally up how much was donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

He even decorated his Chevrolet Suburban pink this month in memory of Howard and to inspire someone to get a car washed and save a life in the process.

“I knew it would draw attention to our business,” said Runion.

And, he hopes to make this an annual event for his business, one that inspires more people to act now and make breast cancer a problem of yesterday.

Katie Holland can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 136, or by e-mail at silife@myclintonnc.com.