You have one important assignment today

Cancer never takes a holiday.

Not when times are bad, like the midst of a killer pandemic. Not when times are good, like birthdays and Christmas or highly anticipated planned trips.

Just ask Susan Jacobson. Susan was recently featured in The Press after returning from her inspiring Camino de Santiago "prayer walk," a pilgrimage of hundreds of miles mostly across Portugal.

Jacobson, whose husband is Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson, refused to succumb to breast cancer this year. Instead, she walked five miles every day to prepare for the trip that would bolster her spiritually as much as it taxed her physically.

You could ask Geri Nicoll, who used a little help from her friends (and sisters!) to counter cancer and travel travails and experience a little bit of the Emerald Isle right here in North Idaho. That story appears on today's front page.

Or you could ask Patricia Graham, another front pager who knows all about breast cancer — first as a longtime nurse, and now as a woman recovering from the disease.

Cancer is one of those equal opportunity life wreckers. Not only does it never take time off; it also strikes anybody. That's the bad news. Ah, but there's good news, too.

Right here in Kootenai County, as Patricia points out so proudly, some of the finest cancer care in the country is available. There are literally thousands of local breast cancer success stories, thanks to the dedicated medical professionals who have chosen to serve this community. With hat over pink heart, we salute them, one and all.

But there's a critically important step that must not be overlooked: screening for breast cancer. While scheduling a mammogram in our COVID-19 climate isn't easy, it can literally be a life saver. Please, please, don't put it off because it's inconvenient. Had Patricia delayed hers too long, she likely wouldn't be smiling up from that front-page photo right now.

And speaking of right now, there's no better time to schedule your mammogram with Kootenai Outpatient Imaging: www.appointmentcenter.kh.org/#/mammogram

You and everyone you love will be grateful you did.