Wednesday, July 8, 2009

What Cancer Cannot Do

This poem is framed and sitting in the Gilda's Club library. I found it very inspiring and just wanted to pass it along...

What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit.

Gilda's Club



I'm officially a member of Gilda's Club!

After having an emotional break down at work last week, I decided it was time to reach out for my support. Luckily for me, the Dallas location of Gilda's Club is just a block away from my office - it doesn't get much more convenient than that!

Gilda's Club is a nonprofit support organization for anyone affected by cancer. Their motto is "Cancer support for the whole family, the whole time." They have group therapy, wellness activities, networking groups, fun/informational activities, socials - even an on-site work out room! The whole thing is housed in a home-like setting which immediately puts you at ease.

Branden and I attended our New Member meeting last night, and today I had my one-on-one appointment to design my customized membership experience. I start my family & friends support group next week! I'm so glad to be going so soon. It feels weird to say I'm excited, but I am looking forward to talking to others with similar experiences and emotions.

Oh, and the best part of Gilda's Club? Every single thing is F-R-E-E. I like the sound of that.

They also have a small library, mostly filled with cancer/self-help/support books, but also including a section of general fiction. I already checked out two books:


My librarian mother instilled in me the belief that answers can often be found in the pages of a book, so that's where I'm turning.
To round out my education, I have placed "Saturday Night Live's The Best of Gilda Radner" at the top of my Netflix queue - I'd like to see some of the wonderful woman who inspired all of this. She was a bit before my SNL time (I watched during the era of Adam Sandler, Jon Lovitz, et.al.) - so I'm looking forward to some laughs when it comes in.