Sunday, April 26, 2009

It is all about Me.

I've gotten numerous emails and requests for a blog update...but with two incredibly busy weekends back to back this is the first chance i've had to sit down to tell you about all of the wonderful things that have been happening in my cyberworld absence.

Last Weekend Alpha Kappa Psi (the business fraternity i was in) held their annual Just Cause event and for some odd reason they decided to give the proceeds to me and my numerous medical bills.
So Thursday night i traveled back to my old stomping grounds to spend the night with the wonderful Stacy Hannah whom i had not seen in quite some time. Got a chance to grab some Boli's pizza (a greenville staple...seriously) and some beers and gossip and whatnot. Tragically she had to leave town at lunch on Friday...so to use my time wisely i sought out an undergraduate admissions counselor to talk about getting back into school since treatments are going well and i'm super "stable" and so on and so forth. She was helpful so that was good.
Then i got a phone call from Jeff (a good greenville friend from the olden days) who wanted to go to ham's and share a beer in the sunshine (marvelous idea since the weather was superb) then we met up with Taylor on another restaurant patio so explain to Jeff the importance of being able to laugh at cancer. (Taylor is my bff who had Lung Cancer last year) Jeff hates my cancer jokes...he doesn't crack a smile at any of them. And its hard to explain to a "well" person that its either laugh or cry and let's be honest...i'm not big on tears. At all. So jokes it is! Yay! Har Har. Ha ha. Chuckles and etc.
So Friday night was the big event at the Tank. (when i was there it was the element...which is where Jamie bartended for the year that we lived together) <- excess info...sorry just want you to feel like you're there...
At Amy's i was in the shower when hannah peeked her head around the curtain to let me know that we were finally in the same city, in the same Room! which basically made me the happiest person on the planet. So we arrived a bit late, and when we got there a decent crowd had already started to form...and everytime i turned around there was another brother from the fraternity ready with a hug and a smile and a few times i turned around to find best friends that have moved far away (Alli and Sarah) that i miss Tremendously! All in all it was an amazing night.
I dont care if they only raised ten dollars...having ALL of my ECU best friends in ONE place at the SAME time is an amazing gift. Not to be depressing but who knows when it will happen again...with cancer i have this sense of urgency to spend as much time with the people that i love as often as possible. There are no words for what Just Cause gave me...there is no price tag for the amazing support system i have. I hope everyone reading this is lucky enough to have these sort of people around them...the kind that will cut out of work early and drive hours just for one night with you. The kind that sends weekly cards, daily phone calls or texts, or gchat messages. i've said it before and i'll say it again. I have the BEST best friends on the planet.

So i guess its fair to say Friday night was a success.
(And a quick I love you to Stephanie Larson who was the Chair for the event...you are so amazing!)

Saturday night i got to have some Bottoms girls time with Micheal Dickerson (who has quickly turned into one of my favorite people) And to be in the same state as Alli B was freakin awesome...sigh i miss you Alli! (yay memorial day wkd)

Sunday Amy, Mark, Alli, Micheal and I went to breakfast at Cracker Barrell...it was a tough goodbye in that parking lot. i actually stayed way longer than i was supposed too...whoops.

Becausssse Sunday afternoon was the Relay for Life survivor luncheon.
I will be honest i did not want to go. but mom made me. it was alright i guess...
there were some moments that did make a dent in my emotional armor.
There was a woman there who was 92. and a survivor.
There was a 50 YEAR survivor.
There were two women sitting at different tables across the aisle from us. One had been diagnosed three weeks prior, the other one and a half. They turned to one another in tears and hugged as though they had known one another all of there lives. i guess Cancer does that to you.

Onto Relay for Life...Our team name was All about Kim (or that's what the tshirt said)
We got there early to set up and get a good parking spot and avoid traffic (which totally worked)
During the opening ceremonies they have all of the survivors (labeled as such on their purple RfL tshirts) sit in the visitors stands so Taylor (who i made register and get a shirt) and I along with Debbie (one of my mom's best friends who also has cancer) sit down together in the sea of purple (it was almost like being at an ECU football game) and listen to the opening stuff...they raised somewhere around 300,000 dollars i believe?
OH, ok so we all know how much i do not like being the center of attention in a swarm of strangers (so not my scene) well the honorary chairman was the Chief of Police (my team was the police department) well...he gets up to make his speech and he's talking blah blah blah and i'm praying to God that he doesn't mention my name and he says our team is all about kim for...
and his microphone cuts out. so no one hears my name (this is how i know God loves me and answers prayers) which was hilarious. So its time for the survivors lap and we get to walking and i see Ms. Bottoms, and Rex and i'm looking for my parents and find mom standing in the bleachers crying then further down is Grandma, Papa and Myra then i find Dad and Stacy further along. Then there's the caregiver lap to mom and dad come join us and as i'm asking if they've seen jennifer i spot her in the bleachers taking pictures with her new lens (that she got that afternoon hoorah!) and I grab Chuck, Gayle and Colby for a lap and Lisa is jumping up and down at the fence to get my attention and i realize that my whole family is there almost. for me.
and i'm almost overwhelmed with love for this crazy family tree that i was lucky enough to be a leaf on. And as the night progresses Mary Adelaide comes to walk with me and her sister (taylor) and as night falls they start lighting the lumenaries and in the stands they spell out Hope which the night is full of. and they have the survivors go to their lumenaries (i have 11...i felt popular) and they have a moment of silence and i'm thinking about all of the families that have lost someone to cancer and its almost hearbreaking until i look back into the stands and they have rearranged Hope to say CURE and i decide that one day we will have one. And its the reason thousands of people come and walk so they can be apart of one day finding the Cure to Cancer. And as the breeze blows i definitely feel like God is in that stadium dancing in the flames of the hundreds of lumenaries (not sure if i'm spelling that correctly but who cares) and I know that he is listening in to all of the prayers being silently prayed all around the track and answering each one in his own way. It was definitely a God is Good moment. nothing but good vibes. positive energy. all of these people who have nothing in common but cancer, coming together to do something good. for strangers. for people they don't know and might never know. The good in people is sometimes astounding. and staggering. and for a 24 year old girl who never thought this would happen to her its unbelievable. but it gives me Hope. which i think is the reason why i will undoubtedly be back at Relay next year. For a large dose of something the world usually has so little of.

I also did the live interview with Geneivive for the ten oclock news. which was exciting. i guess.
(i think it may have been my big break into the entertainment biz) (but i'm not really looking to quit my day job just yet...still waiting to hear back from ECU about getting into summer school.)
Here's Hoping!