ST. PAUL, Minn. -- There are times when the world seems to work in strange ways. A woman who will sing at the breast cancer fundraiser, Rock the Cure, actually found out she had breast cancer just as her band was booked for the event.
Her name is Molly Maher and she works at Willie's American Guitars in Saint Paul.
In the acoustic room at Willie's on Tuesday, the 39-year-old sang her original song, Let's Pretend.
Perhaps it was a way to temporarily escape her reality of breast cancer.
Maher said, "It's not something I ever thought would be in my biography."
Maher found a lump and was diagnosed in February. With no family history, she said it was completely unexpected.
She said, "You're healthy. You exercise. You eat right. But sometimes it's just the luck of the draw or the lack of luck."
And Maher got the diagnosis just as she was about to be asked by Angie Hanzel-Palomo, founder of Rock the Cure, to be the opening band for this year's breast cancer fundraiser.
Hanzel-Palomo said, "I had an email to Molly in the drafts in my email to ask if she would open the event."
The two have known each other for years because Maher has helped Hanzel-Palomo when Willie's donates guitars to Rock the Cure, guitars signed by musicians like Bruce Springsteen and Melissa Etheridge.
So being asked to have her band, Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers actually play this year, she said, "It was serendipitous and I was very motivated to become part of the event because some of the services that the Susan Komen fund provides were services I was using myself, like a free exam through the SAGE women's clinic."
So while it would be nice to pretend she didn't have breast cancer, Maher will instead embrace it to help Rock the Cure.
Hanzel-Palomo said, "It's always an amazing event and I'm so proud of what we do. But this year, it's just, it's Molly."
This will be the ninth annual Rock the Cure. So far, it has raised over 120-thousand dollars for breast cancer.
Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers, along with GB Leighton, play Rock the Cure this Saturday, May 1st, 2101 at O'Gara's Garage. Doors open at 8 p.m.
(Copyright 2010 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)