Each year I raise money for the annual Light the Night Walk
for Blood Cancer Research, as most of you know it is very near and dear to my
heart having lost Mark to Leukemia in 2007. I waffle as the years slip by as to how I can
make a difference without imposing my passion year after year on the same
people.
It became apparent to me today and my apprehension about it
was confirmed when a co-worker said to me … What?? (insert “ugh” here) you’re
doing that again already?? Co-worker
– not smiling… It’s been a whole year?? Long pause…silence.
Not sure what the appropriate response should have been, but
for a change – I was silenced. No
witty response back, no prepared answer.
The feisty part of me that thought of a handful or responses later in my
office for the moment was extinguished.
Flattened for the afternoon.
I worked with my door shut as the afternoon sun poured in on me and I
thought about what Mark would have said…
“Yep, the husband’s still dead…and it’s been a whole year
so, yes, we’re raising money AGAIN so other Fathers can watch their children
grow up and don’t have to die.”
Delivered with sarcasm of course.
I chuckled at myself (for a moment) for the shock value that would have
delivered. Then the tears started
rolling down my cheeks.
A small part of me is enraged by the fact that if it was
current and in their everyday lives, peoples’ responses wouldn’t be so quick to
dismiss it. It’s easier to
make an excuse than to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Until it’s real for you, or for
someone you love – it’s easier to avoid.
I know I tread the line of polite donations from co-workers
and acquaintances as I raise money for the 6th year in a row, but I feel
a drive from within to make a small dent in the race towards a cure. I have got to hope that someone
with the same disease that Mark had in 2006 (AML Leukemia) has a better chance of surviving it today than
6 years ago given the advances in research. I do have faith that this is the case and this is what I tell
my children when we invite others to donate to a cause that has affected us
deeply.
If you are one of the people who smiled at my kids while
dropping a tooney in their piggy bank this weekend know that you’ve made a
difference to them. ALL of the
online donations to date have been cherished and meticulously added up by my
budding (Grade 2 and Grade 5) mathematicians. Their eyes sparkle as they realize that their Dad made
a difference and they feel empowered to make a difference too.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our family,
Leslie, Audrey and Noah
