Each day when I get on this blog to tell you a little story about my life, or something about my family and friends, you will find me with a smile on my face, a twinkle in my eye and my head tilted at a 45 degree angle. I'm not sure why I tilt my head, but we can talk about that later. What I am sure about is why I'm smiling and why my eyes are twinkling. It's because of you!
Tonight, I met Amy and Angie, some of their co-workers, friends and my Ricky at the middle school to prepare for tomorrow's big pancake breakfast. I geared up for cracking the eggs, setting the tables and making a few signs. What I wasn't prepared for was the amazing gift I recieved. Let me share ~ I did some research early on in my battle with lung cancer to find an organization that focused on research. Most of the groups I found were located in Washington D.C. or New York. Except for the one that caught my eye. It was called "A Breath Away From the Cure". Catchy name, I thought. What I didn't know is how my children got in touch with Bonnie Addario, the founder of this organization and they formed an instant bond. Apparently, Bonnie and I have a lot in common. She however, is a 2 1/2 year survivor (right where I plan on being 2 years from now). Amy and Angie were working hard to find a way to surprise me with a trip to San Francisco for Lung Cancer Gala in November put on by ABAFTC (A breath away from the cure). I' m trying to make this story short, but I can't. Sorry! Tonight while we were getting ready to start working, Angie got a phone call and said it was for me. When I got on the phone, the person on the other line said" Doreen, hi this is Bonnie Addario". Ok, you know me....I started crying. We talked for a few minutes and she told me how she reads my blog and how she is inspired by me, and how wonderful my family is, and said she couldn't wait to meet me. Then, Amy and Angie gave Rick and I tickets to the Gala in November...courtsey of Bonnie herself. After I was done crying a river...the phone rang for a 2nd time. Who knew? It was for me again. This time the voice on the other end asked if I was sitting down? Then told me that maybe I should. I did, and as we started talking, the voice became more and more familiar. It was a friend and former-sister-in-law who called to tell me how much she loves me and that round-trip tickets to San Francisco for both Rick and I were being overnighted to us compliments of Southwest Airlines. How truly blessed we are.
I'm not sure how we will ever repay all of you for your generosity. Hopefully, on our journey through this horrific disease we will find a screening program to help with early detection. I will work hard to see this hope become a reality.
I can't tell you enough how excited I am to connect with Bonnie. I believe that she has so much to share with me that my brain is already hurting thinking about all the things we have to talk about. We are all given gifts everyday. Somedays the gift might be something we didn't really want, and other days it might be just what we needed. Today was that kind of day.
I believe in miracles, because I have you!
Love you more than all the pancakes we'll be making tomorrow morning about 8:00am. (I guess I'd better get to bed - I've gotta get up early)
You know what's next...Dream Big,
Love, Dor
2 comments:
LUV you more than all the peanuts served on Sothwest Airlines and all the NUTS who work here.
God Bless you all and just know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
I love you.
You know who I am.
Here's a website you might want to check out; this is the Norwegian site for cancer ("kreft") information and research:
http://www.kreftforeningen.no/
There's a tab for information in English, although most of the site is in Norwegian. Thanks to the oil discovered in the North Sea, Norway is today one of the richest nations around, and it looks like they're pouring some of that into cancer research. Ironically, Norway has socialized medicine resulting in brutal taxes on everything. My cousin is a nurse in Trondheim and a stauch democrat, and so she supports social programs but also sees the pitalls and shortcomings. (To maybe put this in context, some 70% of young couples who have a child do not get married because to do so would end a cornucopia of goverment benefits.)
So what the heck? Most Norwegians speak good to fluent English, so why not shoot those guys an email and see what they've got going over there? You might even get a complimentary shipment of lutefisk!
--Dave in MT
Post a Comment