Have you ever received an invaluable gift? One that couldn't possibly have a price tag attached to it? I was fortunate enough to receive such a gift last night and, on top of that, it was for someone else's birthday! How great is that?!
It happened at the 12th birthday party of my friend Carrie's daughter, Gabby. Carrie, being the great mom that she is, would normally have asked Gabby weeks ago how she wanted to celebrate. Would it be a bowling party, a night at the movies, a shopping trip? Before the question was even asked, Gabby told her mom that she wanted to run The Race for the Cure to support breast cancer research for her birthday. That's right - A Race for the Cure Birthday Bash!
Thinking back, I'm not sure what I asked for on my 12th birthday but I'm guessing it didn't have anything to do with giving gifts to someone else, let alone expending that kind of energy on them. I mean, come on, at twelve most of us are fairly self absorbed. And I don't mean that in a judgemental way. It's just that at twelve we're still only kids. And when you're a kid, the world revolves around you by definition, right?
So, how is this a gift for me? For one thing, I'm incredibly impressed by this soul-refreshing gesture. But more than that, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago. She had a mastec
tomy to remove the cancerous growth. After the first surgery, the doctor went in again and took out a few lymph nodes to be sure the cancer was all gone. Unfortunately, a few cells were found in one of the nodes. Subsequently, mom has undergone six rounds of chemotherapy which, in case you're unfamiliar with this hellish regimen, has been utterly mentally and physically challenging and exhausting. Now, Carrie, who also ran the race, has been aware of my mom's ordeal and, just prior to starting the race, thought of her and let "Gabby's Girls" know. They went on to run the race for my mom. I still get choked up just thinking about it.
Thanks so much to Gabby and "Gabby's Girls" for running for my mom and for helping to raise money to find a cure for this horrible disease that attacks 1 in 6 women! You are a very special group of girls who know, at a very young age, that when it comes to gifts, it truly is better to give than to receive.
It happened at the 12th birthday party of my friend Carrie's daughter, Gabby. Carrie, being the great mom that she is, would normally have asked Gabby weeks ago how she wanted to celebrate. Would it be a bowling party, a night at the movies, a shopping trip? Before the question was even asked, Gabby told her mom that she wanted to run The Race for the Cure to support breast cancer research for her birthday. That's right - A Race for the Cure Birthday Bash!
Thinking back, I'm not sure what I asked for on my 12th birthday but I'm guessing it didn't have anything to do with giving gifts to someone else, let alone expending that kind of energy on them. I mean, come on, at twelve most of us are fairly self absorbed. And I don't mean that in a judgemental way. It's just that at twelve we're still only kids. And when you're a kid, the world revolves around you by definition, right?
So, how is this a gift for me? For one thing, I'm incredibly impressed by this soul-refreshing gesture. But more than that, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago. She had a mastec
tomy to remove the cancerous growth. After the first surgery, the doctor went in again and took out a few lymph nodes to be sure the cancer was all gone. Unfortunately, a few cells were found in one of the nodes. Subsequently, mom has undergone six rounds of chemotherapy which, in case you're unfamiliar with this hellish regimen, has been utterly mentally and physically challenging and exhausting. Now, Carrie, who also ran the race, has been aware of my mom's ordeal and, just prior to starting the race, thought of her and let "Gabby's Girls" know. They went on to run the race for my mom. I still get choked up just thinking about it.Thanks so much to Gabby and "Gabby's Girls" for running for my mom and for helping to raise money to find a cure for this horrible disease that attacks 1 in 6 women! You are a very special group of girls who know, at a very young age, that when it comes to gifts, it truly is better to give than to receive.
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