This article will not touch on business, it will not touch on real estate or any market analysis. It will not touch on partnerships, and it will not touch on who to call for your interest rate...but hopefully it will touch your heart. And perhaps by touching your heart, it will raise awareness, inspiration and a spark to take action for a worthy cause.

I want to share with you a very personal story, wishing to underline courage with the intention of giving hope and most of all to celebrate strength in the face of adversity. Life always finds a way to continue. Even when part of it dies.

Sometime in the fall of 2002, Lorraine, the woman who had been my father's life partner for over 20 years, and who had raised and loved me like her own child, was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

Fortunately, they were able to operate and remove the malignant tumour, followed by some treatments of radiation therapy. At that time, we were joyous as it seemed that the worst had been avoided. There was little they could have prepared us for what was to come.

In the 15 years that followed, the cancer affected Lorraine's throat, lungs and eventually attacked her breasts again. Only one of these conditions would have been enough to cut down any man or woman who did not have the resolve that Lorraine had; a resolve to keep on living, not to put her hands down, and to keep telling herself, "Everything is going to be all right.”  It seemed that nothing could stop her. To this day I still don't know how she did it. 

It is one thing to fight for yourself, to pick yourself up no matter how many times you fall. It is another to be going through all of these challenges and torments, surviving them in spite of brutal operations and the lengthy recoveries, only to find out that your baby sister is now also affected by breast cancer as well. 

Chantal, the youngest sister of five girls, was in her late 30s when she was first diagnosed. Wife and mother of two girls, Chantal's unwavering optimism and positivity was a true anchor for all of the family and friends who were close. In some instances, the high points of a successful chemo treatment, provide a temporary relief and a glimmer of hope.  

As the years flew by, the many ups and downs that come with battling cancer took its toll on Chantal's body but never on her spirit. In a way, her battle helped Lorraine with her own. 

Though the spirit never broke, our current science could only do so much. In 2016, a few weeks away from her 47th birthday, Chantal passed away surrounded by the people she loved. Life finds a way to continue even when one life ends. Chantal’s last breaths were taken as her daughter Cynthia was holding her hand, and carrying in her womb twin babies, brothers and sisters. 

The physical scars, the personal anguish and the many battles Lorraine had faced were nothing in comparison to the scar on her heart left by her sister's passing; however, life must continue, even when life ends. A part of Lorraine's healing has been found through her art. She now paints with passion, with love and with hope. The hope that by the time Nelly & Romy (Chantal's grandchildren) reach adulthood, breast cancer will be a thing of the past.

As for myself, and all of Team Sperano, on October 27th, 2017 with the amazing people from  Pink in the City, an organization dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer, we will be launching our "Hope Campaign".  Every transaction done by Groupe SPERANO will see an amount given to help in the research against breast cancer. I have set a goal to reach a minimum of $10,000 with my partners in the first year. We cannot change what happened, but together we can be part of what I know will be a better future.