A Penny for a Hug

February 1, 2013

Today Phoenix and I visited a preschool in Gary, Bethune ECDC, to represent LLS as the school kicked off its Pennies for Patients program.  I had met Casey Cornelius, a Bethune staff, at a LLS PFP info meeting for teachers a few weeks earlier, and she thought it would be great for the students to connect with a patient.  The kids watched “Why Charlie Brown, Why?”, which is a fantastic cartoon that teaches young children the basics of leukemia and chemotherapy.  They were introduced to Phoenix as their local Honored Hero, and I think she liked that.  We were given the opportunity to give a brief summary of Phoenix’s journey, talk a bit about LLS, and then thank the kids and pump them up.  It was simply awesome to see 3, 4, & 5 year olds excited to fundraise for a cause. The school’s goal is $1800 in one month, which is a hefty goal for any school.  The classes are competing for a pizza and ice cream party, which they want to invite Phoenix to.  She thought that was SO awesome.  The most incredible part of the day was when my heart was touched unexpectedly.  A teacher came up to me and introduced herself, and thanked me for coming. She told me that her own daughter had cancer when she was 6 years old also, and that girl was now 33 years old, and happy and healthy.  She said she wanted to share that with me to give me encouragement and hope…and that she really wanted to hug me. Here’s the thing: hugs are super nice and loving and sweet. But when a cancer mom hugs another cancer mom, it is something else.  They KNOW each other like no one else can. They know how tender your heart is, even when you are smiling.  They know the pain and the fear and the guilt and the sadness and the anger and the helplessness.  Even though this woman’s child went through treatment 25 years ago, I could see the pain in her face when she spoke about it and especially when she looked at Phoenix, and told me how beautiful she is.

God certainly works in mysterious ways, but I am happy to feel Him working in my life.  Today I felt Love all around us. And I thought I was doing someone else a favor today.