October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Kimberly Paris is one of many Westporters for whom it carries deep meaning.
Since March of 2024, she’s been going through treatment for the disease. As happens often, her diagnosis was a complete surprise. It turned her world upside down.
Kimberly Paris
You may not know Kimberly personally. But if you’ve ever been on Pumpkin Hill Road — and who hasn’t, using the shortcut between Staples High/Bedford Middle School, and Roseville Road — you’ve seen her work.
Early in COVID, she launched a yard sign company. “Signs of Happiness” offers enormous, fun lawn decorations. Each one is personally designed and hand cut.
Father’s Day. Graduation. Anniversaries. Retirements. Bar and bat mitzvahs, and communions.
If there is an occasion, Kimberly creates a sign for it. For 5 years Westporters have enjoyed her ever-changing displays, just a few yards from Colony Road.
(Photo/Ed Simek)
One of the hardest parts of her illness was having to pause her business.
Kimberly did not have the energy to deliver and install signs herself. Nor was she comfortable outsourcing the job to someone who might not offer the same care, detail and personalization that her clients love.
She missed it. And she was disappointed not to be part of families’ celebrations that she’d helped with, year after year.
That’s why “Pink-tober” feels so meaningful. Kimberly is back!
Though a few surgeries still loom, she has finished the hardest parts of treatment.
Most importantly, she says, she has the energy and excitement to return to what she loves most: “delivering happiness.”
To honor the month — and the amazing breast cancer community — she has placed a special sign on Pumpkin Hill.
It invites survivors, fighters, and anyone who has lost someone to breast cancer to add their names. (It’s simple — just click here!)
“While there is nothing ‘happy’ about cancer,” Kimberly says, “I hope my sign reminds anyone fighting their own battles that they are seen, loved, and never alone.”
She also created a new sign. “Cancer Picked the Wrong Girl” is designed for families and friends to send to a loved one going through treatment.
It’s filled with motivating and comforting images, bringing a smile and a little lightness to a tough time.
Twenty percent of every rental and sale will be donated to the renter’s choice: Pink Aid, Sharsheret or Swim Across the Sound. All 3 non-profits supported Kimberly through her own journey.
Now she is back. And her Signs of Happiness bring her — and us — more joy than ever.
