Yesterday afternoon I recieved an email from someone Patti and I met one afternoon last September.
Patti and I had walked a long walk in Healdsburg, and decided a good way to reward ourselves at the end was stopping into Toad Hollow Tasting room to see our friend Jim. There was a young couple tasting there, and the conversation came up about where they were from. They said the DC area, and I shared about my daughters new life in DC. We were dressed in pink, and either Jim or we said were were training for the Susan G Komen 3 day. The girl quietly let us know that her mother was battling stage 4 Cancer. She said it had metastasized to the bones.
I can't remember exactly what I said but probably something about that is why we are walking, to find a cure. I must have said that research is being done all the time and that she shouldn't give up hope. I told her she should walk with us the next September in DC. She said she just might. I remember at the time I believed her.
I also found out that her fiance was working at the National Institute of Health as a Surgical Oncology Fellow. I remarked what a small world that was because I had sold a home for someone working there and I mentioned his name. Well, the National Institute of Health is a big organization, you wouldn't expect this, but he had interviewed with him to get his job. Small world. We are all connected somehow.
What I didn't know (but could have guessed if I tried) was meeting Patti and I in Toad Hollow, with Jim pouring wine, was a moment that was like a pebble in a sea of possibilites... Now the ripples are building
The email I received started yesterday with that common beginning," I don't know if you remember us." It was from the young doctor. He said we had inspired he and his girlfriend to do the walk this year in honor of her Mother who had passed away last December. They formed a team with family and friends.
We share a lot more than Toad Hollow wine. We share the pain of losing a parent. We share the need to DO something to find a cure for Cancer. We were all inspired by something or someone to take action. And that is what I find remarkable.
Throughout our lives we fill our souls with moments, and people, and experiences that create a sea of potential, that lies still as it grows. For me, I had 55 years (14 of which was being a Cancer survivor) that created my still waters. I got a phone call from Patti saying they had found a lump and she was going to get a biopsy, the TV was on and an ad was playing for the Susan G Komen 3 day walk. I picked up that pebble and threw it. I had had my moment that required action. Yesterday I found that Patti and I were part of someone else's "moment" of action.
I made a donation to the doctor's walk and then looked up his fiance's page at first she didn't have anything written on her page, but later she wrote:
Patti and I had walked a long walk in Healdsburg, and decided a good way to reward ourselves at the end was stopping into Toad Hollow Tasting room to see our friend Jim. There was a young couple tasting there, and the conversation came up about where they were from. They said the DC area, and I shared about my daughters new life in DC. We were dressed in pink, and either Jim or we said were were training for the Susan G Komen 3 day. The girl quietly let us know that her mother was battling stage 4 Cancer. She said it had metastasized to the bones.
I can't remember exactly what I said but probably something about that is why we are walking, to find a cure. I must have said that research is being done all the time and that she shouldn't give up hope. I told her she should walk with us the next September in DC. She said she just might. I remember at the time I believed her.
I also found out that her fiance was working at the National Institute of Health as a Surgical Oncology Fellow. I remarked what a small world that was because I had sold a home for someone working there and I mentioned his name. Well, the National Institute of Health is a big organization, you wouldn't expect this, but he had interviewed with him to get his job. Small world. We are all connected somehow.
What I didn't know (but could have guessed if I tried) was meeting Patti and I in Toad Hollow, with Jim pouring wine, was a moment that was like a pebble in a sea of possibilites... Now the ripples are building
The email I received started yesterday with that common beginning," I don't know if you remember us." It was from the young doctor. He said we had inspired he and his girlfriend to do the walk this year in honor of her Mother who had passed away last December. They formed a team with family and friends.
We share a lot more than Toad Hollow wine. We share the pain of losing a parent. We share the need to DO something to find a cure for Cancer. We were all inspired by something or someone to take action. And that is what I find remarkable.
Throughout our lives we fill our souls with moments, and people, and experiences that create a sea of potential, that lies still as it grows. For me, I had 55 years (14 of which was being a Cancer survivor) that created my still waters. I got a phone call from Patti saying they had found a lump and she was going to get a biopsy, the TV was on and an ad was playing for the Susan G Komen 3 day walk. I picked up that pebble and threw it. I had had my moment that required action. Yesterday I found that Patti and I were part of someone else's "moment" of action.
I made a donation to the doctor's walk and then looked up his fiance's page at first she didn't have anything written on her page, but later she wrote:
Last September I met two women in Northern California who were training for the 3 day and had infectious enthusiasm for the event. A week later, my mom and I took a trip to Mirror Lake, NY, which was my birthday present from me. While walking around town I told her about these women and mentioned that this fall I wanted to walk the 60 miles in her honor. Even though she was very fragile at
the time, she immediately responded by saying "Oh maybe I'll walk it with you." She said it with no doubt as if anything was possible. Because she never gave up hope that it is.
I am so honored to have been a part of something that will be so healing for this daughter and her family. From what I hear about her Mother she was a strong advocate for Breast Cancer. We know every person battling Cancer has challenges and is called to get up every day and fight the odds. We know all of that seems unfair and wrong. This walk allows you to stop being a victim. It allows you to be in control over something HUGE. You can simply, by walking, make yourself more powerful than you ever imagined, and that change in you can inspire others to take action. That is what a "grassroots" organization is all about. It is a ground swell, it is a pebble that transforms still waters into waves, it changes the world.
I am looking forward to seeing these folks at the DC 3 day, and yes, I do believe some Toad Hollow might be involved.
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