The climb of her life
In her mind’s eye, Pamela Thompson summits California’s 14,000-foot Mount Shasta on a beautiful day. “It’s absolutely clear. Blue sky. You can see forever,” Thompson said. “I really want to make it.” This month Thompson will climb Shasta — the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range —to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer prevention. Thompson, manager of adult education at the Arnold Arboretum, has raised nearly $8,000 for the nonprofit Breast Cancer Fund, whose prevention focus is on reducing toxins in our everyday environment. She’ll be taking part in the fund’s Climb Against the Odds from June 16 to June 21. Thompson, 51, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. The call confirming her lump was cancerous came while she was at her dying father’s bedside. “I took the call in the bathroom at the nursing home,” Thompson recalls. “I fell out of the bathroom … and fell into the arms of my family.” Thompson...