Donna Day 2016- Let's Make This The Last One
It's the school year of 1963-64. Sixth grade. I'm eleven years old.
Three things stand out in my mind. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy, The Beatles and the day I saw the sixth grade teachers whispering one morning before starting class.
The first two are obvious. The whispers were about the older brother of a classmate dying. Leukemia.
The word scared me for many years to follow. Back then Leukemia was a death sentence. I thought we all were going to get Leukemia. I didn't know any better...I was eleven. No one told me any different because no one talked about this. I think it scared the adults, too.
I still know that sixth grade classmate. I've seen her a couple of times in the last five or so years. Both times the subject of her brother has come up. When I talk with mutual friends of ours, it comes up. It's more than fifty years later and we haven't forgotten....we never will.
It's 1977. I'm now twenty-five years old. One of my cousins is ill. Leukemia. She's fourteen years old.
Our families are pretty close, especially the parents. The four kids in each of our families are very close in age and went to school with each other. I was working with my father at the time so I'd get the latest update. Lori is going to this doctor. Lori is at this hospital. Lori went to St. Judes, in Memphis. Lori is getting worse. Lori is getting better. Lori is in remission. The remission didn't last long.
Lori died in the summer of 1977.
My father died in 1982 and about twenty years later I went to visit his grave for the first time since his funeral. I ran into the gravestone for my cousin. Immediate tears. Nothing shocks you more than seeing the grave of a child.
Today is February 16, 2016. It's Donna Day. It's the day we remember and honor the memory Donna....the daughter of our colleague and friend, Mary Tyler Mom. Like the others in this piece, Donna died of Cancer. She was four years old. FOUR!!!
Fuck Cancer! FUCK CANCER!! FUCK CANCER!!!
There are times I read a MTM blog post and it takes me three or four times to get through it. I just want to hug her and not let go. I figured out it's more for me than for her. Painful!
These are just three of the millions of families that have been affected by pediatric cancer. I'm sure you have your own stories and know about the horror and pain these families go through and live with for the rest of their lives.
We've made a lot of strides in Pediatric Cancer since that horrible day in 1964 but we aren't there just yet. Cancer is the biggest killer of our youth and money for research is underfunded.
On March 19th, it'll be the fifth year for Donna's Good Things at the Candelite restaurant in Chicago. It's a fundraising event to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which funds children's cancer research. Stop by from 2-4 pm, donate, meet the family, shave your head for Cancer, say hi to me and eat some pizza...they have good pizza. If you can't make it, you can click on the links and find a place to donate.
This is the first time I've participated in Donna Day. We'd all love for it to be the last.
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