Jenny Clayton’s Story

When you think about your family’s breast cancer story, where does it begin?

Family has always been at the center of Jenny’s life. And so has the memory of her mother, Jean.

Jenny was a sophomore at Colby Sawyer College when her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1979. Jean spent many years in remission before experiencing a recurrence 11 years later.

Almost 18 years ago, Jean passed away.

Jenny was 38. Her daughter Ellie was 7.

“I remember thinking that Ellie is never going to know her amazing grandmother the way she should have,” Jenny says.

That realization was one of the most painful parts of losing her mother. Jenny could grieve her own loss, but she could not replace what Ellie had lost.

“Ellie was missing something so special,” she says. “Getting to know her grandmother is something I couldn’t replace.”

How have you and your sisters carried your mother forward

Despite this, Jenny and her three sisters have given their next generation a powerful sense of where they come from.

“My three sisters and I have tried to fill those gaps for all of the kids,” Jenny says. “Of course, we haven’t been able to fill my mother’s shoes, but by being a tight and united group and uttering her favorite phrases, I think we have shown them all incredible strength.”

That strength has become one of Jean’s legacies.

Jenny sometimes wonders whether she and her sisters would be as close as they are if their mother were still alive. She likes to think they would be. But she also knows that the traditions they built after Jean’s passing helped keep them connected.

 

What is Boobs and Baubles?

With a strong family history of breast cancer — their mother, grandmother, and aunt were all impacted — Jenny and her sisters decided they needed to approach their mammograms together, in a way that felt personal and supportive.

The year after Jean passed, they began going to Dana-Farber together for their annual mammograms. They held each other’s hands, supported one another through the appointments, and then chose a “bauble” to commemorate the year. The tradition also included dinner and a night in the city.

Although some things have changed over time, they are still doing it 24 years later.

It remains one of the most meaningful things the sisters have done together.

“It’s events like Runway for Recovery and our own ‘Boobs and Baubles’ that have kept us close,” Jenny says.

For Jenny, finding pieces of her mother in each of her sisters has become a way of keeping Jean present.

“Finding our mother in each one of us and sharing that with each other keeps us close and the laughter flowing,” she says.

How has your grief changed over time?

Over the years, Jenny has learned that grief changes, but the need for your mother does not disappear.

“What I’ve learned over the years is that the times that you need and want your mother never change, no matter how old you are,” she says. “But how you respond to that need or want or loss changes over time.”

For Jenny and her sisters, that response has been togetherness. It has been mammograms, dinners, jewelry, laughter, shared language, and the steady act of showing up for one another.

It has also been Runway.

 

What has Runway meant to you and your family?

Jenny was introduced to Runway by fellow board member Kim Furnald after the organization’s first year. Since then, she has had a front-row seat — literally and figuratively — shaping and experiencing Runway’s community.

“Being a part of an organization like Runway, where you feel all of those relationships and all of those emotions, it’s like a positive well that you tap into,” she says.

For Jenny, Runway is not only a community she serves as a board member. It is also a place she can lean on, a place that helps make people stronger, more connected, and less alone.

“Knowing that you have organizations and people to lean on is what makes you stronger,” she says. “And happier.”

 

How did your own diagnosis become part of this story?

Then in 2023, Jenny became the first Lubrano sister to be diagnosed with breast cancer herself.

Because of her yearly “Boobs and Baubles” trip, her cancer was caught early. She is now on the path to full recovery.

The diagnosis became another chapter in a family story already shaped by breast cancer, sisterhood, vigilance, and love.

Jenny’s own diagnosis taught her something about herself. She learned how strong and stoic she could be. She also gained a deeper understanding of what her mother may have carried all those years ago.

 

Who are you walking for this year?

She walks for her mother.

She walks for her sisters.

She walks for her daughter. 

And we can’t wait to cheer her on yet again.