The Good With the Bad

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. ~Cleveland Amory

Part of my daily routine is to look through the daily mail, weed out the bills and then look for anything good. A few weeks ago I came across a Hanna Montana birthday invitation and got really excited! Then I realized the party invitation wasn’t really for me, but for my daughters but it was for my girlfriend’s daughter so I got excited again! There was a note attached to the invitation that immediately got my attention and turned my joy into tears:

“In lieu of gifts, please bring a cash donation for our friends Cam and Teenie whose mom has cancer for the third time.”

Oh no, what had she done??? It was her daughter’s fourth birthday! I didn’t want her to sacrifice presents on our behalf, not despite our tragedy! So I called my girlfriend to ask why she and her daughter were doing something so selfless. Her reaction was something along the lines of “because it’s just the right thing to do.”

Well her daughter’s friends also agreed because the donations we received were astounding.

All of that money is allocated for the needs of Cam and Teenie. Cam has to go to the eye doctor next week and we know she will need new glasses. She has special lenses so her glasses are $250 even with the cheapest frames. We can now cover those costs without dipping into any other emergency fund.

I realize that some of the people who donated money at the party may be new readers and I just wanted to let them know how grateful I am for their selfless act of kindness. I hope they understand the lesson they have also taught their children as well.

My youngest daughter Teenie learned about giving when she was five years old after she saw the news in September 2005. All it took was the sad faces of children after Hurricane Katrina. When she found out they were without a home it broke her heart so she started collecting pennies and raised $200.

That altruistic spirit continues in Teenie today as an eight year old because she has a can and is collecting coins for another cause today. When I told her about Britt’s family losing everything in the Parkersburg, Iowa EF-5 tornado, Teenie started collecting coins.

Someone also referred me to Chemo Angels. This is a program where you are assigned to two people: one card angel and one gift angel. These kind people send little cards and gifts of encouragement on a weekly basis as I am going through this vicious chemotherapy. My gift angel actually made homemade journals for my daughters and myself! They are absolutely gorgeous.

It’s beautiful that they ask nothing in return and do this out of the kindness of their heart. They have no idea, NO IDEA how much their cards and gifts lift my spirits.

This also leads me to today where yet another fund raiser is taking place…at my university. There is a walk-a-thon called “Lap’s For Lisa” in which students are walking to raise money to help me with my medical expenses at two campuses.

Quite frankly that overwhelms me because most of the students probably don’t know who I am. They don’t know who I am yet they have taken the time to raise money and will take the time today to walk laps in my honor…because I have cancer.

So when I think I’ve become completely disillusioned with mankind I’m reminded of the kindness of friends and strangers. I’m reminded that kindness comes in all forms, all ages and knows no boundaries. Although it’s sad that it takes something tragic for such kindness to surface, it makes the fight worth fighting to know that so much good can come from so much bad.

I know there has been some ugly going on out there so please, be kind to each other.