We can’t believe it has been ten years since the very first Beyond Boobs! calendar model was chosen for our annual A Calendar to Live By! Our calendar is also a health guide in disguise and offers a year of hope and inspiration, along with reminders to put your health first. We are beyond grateful to our generous sponsors, as well as the 100-plus calendar models who have graciously represented BB! and their fellow Boobers! over the years.
During the next several weeks on the blog you will meet the Boobers! who were chosen as calendar models for A Calendar to Live By 2017. You are also hereby invited to join us at the Pink Carpet Gala on Saturday, September 17, as we unveil this year’s calendar. See you there!
By: Jamie McAllister
When Alveta S. Henderson stopped nursing her youngest son in 2010, she discovered a lump the size of an egg in
her breast during a self-exam. She was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time in May of 2014. Shortly after she moved to Williamsburg, she met Beyond Boobs! co-founders Mary Beth Gibson and René Bowditch. They saw Alveta was wearing a lymphedema sleeve so they told her about BB!’s Not Your Typical Support groups and encouraged her to become a Boober!
Being chosen as a model for A Calendar to Live By 2017 has given Alveta another outlet to share her message and her journey of survival. She works as a physician assistant at Sentara Healthcare and is the mother of three: Devereaux Nash (21), Raven Nash (19), and DeCarlo “Jaden” Crowell (6). Here she describes her perfect day, her perfect place to settle down, and why BB! is such a perfect fit for her.
What was your favorite toy as a child?
My Cabbage Patch doll.
What is guaranteed to always make you smile?
Seeing my children smile or hearing them laugh.
Describe your perfect day from beginning to end.
Going to the beach at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, near Charleston, and sitting on the beach watching waves. Occasionally taking a swim. Going shopping for spices on the downtown market and then driving back out to Kiawah down Bohicket Road, only to return to the beach for the evening to watch the waves some more. I love the history of the area. It makes me feel like I am returning to the ocean to receive my ancestors on the shore. I know it sounds weird, but I feel like I'm letting them know that a better day came for them even though they didn't get to see it.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? Why?
Somewhere tropical close to the mountains and the sea, maybe Saint Lucia or Mexico. I love the mountains because I grew up in the mountains of Virginia, but I love the water. I could even do a mountain lake like Smith Mountain Lake here in Virginia.
What does being selected as a calendar model mean to you?
Being selected as a calendar model means I get another outlet or platform to tell my story and to encourage someone who is going through a similar situation. Everything I've gone through is so that someone else can benefit from the experience. There is a wealth of knowledge I can share, right down to how African American women respond to chemotherapy. The side effects of skin changes are profound. Things doctors don't always remember to tell you that a patient who is going through it can expound upon are priceless.