Picture this: you’re 5 years old and all you want is a cabbage patch kid.
Your mom takes you and your baby sister to stand in line at a nearby store selling them. You’re near the front of the line and even to your 5 year old senses the wait isn’t that long.
Along comes the security guard to open up the door and suddenly you and your baby sister in her stroller are ripped away from your mom as the orderly line breaks apart and chaotically surges forward.
Alone, you find your way to the toy section and to 2 completely emptied aisles that were minutes before filled with Cabbage Patch Kids waiting to be adopted. Adults are running around with arms and carts full of dolls. Tears begin to well in your eyes.
In an odd coincidence, earlier today, I recounted this story to John and Blake not realizing until just now that today is the 25th anniversary of that day!
My traumatic story has a somewhat happy ending. After my mom recovered my sister in her stroller she found me in the toy section and we did some shopping for boring adult stuff. She tried explaining to me that no, the people shouldn’t have pushed us; yes, they should have stayed in line; no, it wasn’t fair but that we couldn’t do anything.
While standing in the check out line I must have looked pretty sad as I stared longingly at the lady’s cart in front of us overflowing with cabbage patch kids because the lady gave me one of the dolls from her cart!
Unfortunately, he was a cast-off preemie boy with NO hair and I wanted a regular size girl WITH hair - the lady had lots of those in her cart. But she didn’t give me a choice so I said thank you and took my new preemie home.
My baby boy lived with us for many years, eventually becoming my younger sister’s doll at some point.
Stand Up 2 Cancer aired the other day and I was able to catch most of it. The timing was fitting as this September 13th marks the 4th anniversary of the day I lost my mom to cancer.
I really appreciated that the show didn’t focus just on Cancer Survivors but that they equally focused on those touched by cancer and those I call Cancer Warriors. To me, Cancer Warriors are the people who tried just as hard and wanted to live just as badly as the Survivors but unfortunately didn’t make it. Not that I’m not thrilled for all the Survivors out there, but sometimes I feel the Warriors who lost their battles with cancer despite all their determination are forgotten.
I went online and order 3 “In Memory Of” shirts; one for myself, brother & sister. Similar to the one you see Halle Berry wearing to the left.
I will be seeing them this weekend for my nephew’s 4th birthday so I am hoping the shirts come soon. My mom’s first grandchild was born the day before she passed away. She never got to see him. I spent my time split between the cancer hospital and the hospital where my nephew was born. I was able to show my mom his footprints; she laughed and said he had big feet. This is the last conversation I remember having with her. I had taken a bunch of pictures on my digital camera but didn’t have time to get them printed. Unfortunately, her vision was going and she was too out of it to really focus on the tiny viewfinder so she didn’t even get to see his picture. I was too tired to go to the hospital early the next morning and that’s when she passed away.
It’s been 4 years, which sounds like a long time, but not a day goes by that I don’t think of my best friend and mom.
You can still order some SU2C gear on cafepress. Don’t worry, this isn’t some random cafepress user making another buck off a charity (which is what I thought at first), this is the official site to buy the gear. It looks like most of the shirts are already sold out. As of this posting the only shirts left are the black “Stand Up 2 Cancer” shirts. The other day when I ordered the rest where available - maybe they will have them again soon?
Some of the highlights of the live telethon were the musical collaborations, including the closing song Just Stand Up performed by more than a dozen of today’s divas which you can watch embedded here.
by cancer and those I call Cancer Warriors. To me, Cancer Warriors are the people who tried just as hard and wanted to live just as badly as the Survivors but unfortunately didn’t make it. Not that I’m not thrilled for all the Survivors out there, but sometimes I feel the Warriors who lost their battles with cancer despite all their determination are forgotten.
