TOLEDO, Ohio — Each year, the Susan G. Komen Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure is named in memory of a brave warrior who lost the battle with breast cancer.
In 2022, the race is named after Agnes Karmol. Her sign on Sunday's race would have said 11 years.
Agnes' prized gardens are something special, her husband Mike said.
"There are the hanging baskets," he said There's eight of them in the backyard. There are six of them back by the deck. They get daisies."
The veggies are overflowing. The flowers are bursting with color. The garden itself is bright and beautiful, just like Agnes, whose special touch made the garden what it is.
But, she wasn't there to tend to the garden in the spring of 2022.
Agnes died of metastatic breast cancer last year. Mike, her husband of 45 years, made sure her gardens were just how she liked them this year.
"Exactly, exactly to her specifications from when she planted them every year," he said.
Mike knows the exact specifications because he kept a list that Agnes meticulously wrote, showing every type of flower by color, in the exact location Agnes had planted them every year.
"But I didn't do as good a job as she did because she watered them, talked to them, gave them love and care," Mike said.
Agnes was proud of her garden, her relationship with Mike and of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
She said the Race for the Cure gave her something to look forward to every year and a reason to keep fighting.
"It was like Thanksgiving," Mike said. "Everybody gets together, having a party, everybody's happy and everybody's giving thanks for the accomplishments that they've done and where they've been and how the year's progressed."
The 20- and 30-year survivors gave her hope. And the newer survivors gave her purpose.
"She wanted to get everybody a buddy," Mike said. "That was a big thing after she found a buddy that she could relate with, that had it earlier years than what she had. It was phenomenal and it was something that gave her an edge as to what she could expect."
While Agnes won't be participating in this year's race, Mike said her memory being honored is something that he will never forget, and something she would have loved.
"I'm speechless," he said. "It brings tears to my eyes, because it's something that she would have loved, and I'm going to deeply appreciate this."
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WATCH WTOL 11's LIVE COVERAGE OF THIS YEAR'S SUSAN B. KOMEN RACE FOR THE CURE FROM 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. SUNDAY.