God is the grounds for hope...
for believing good can happen.
God is also the grounds for knowing...
He will make good of that we give over to Him.
believing gives us hope.
belief prepares us for and supports us through the worst
with the knowledge that God is good always!
i have passed these beliefs on to katherine.
~@~
months ago when it was time for katherine to order graduation invitations, she chose to forgo doing so. she said she didn't want to send them because she didn't want people to think she was asking for something (other than their presence at her commencement) in return. after a little brainstorming, i went back to her and explained that if she didn't send out invitations there would be those who would think they were overlooked. i made a proposal to her. i told her that she could put an insert in each of her pre-printed invitations, and on it she could make her intentions known. she was happy with the idea.
hence, she decided to request only the gift of the recipients' presence at her ceremony and to give those who insisted on gifting an option.
~@~
before katherine was even 10 years old, she lost 2 people to whom she was very close to cancer. a third was diagnosed and given only a 2% chance of surviving more than 5 years. so, the summer before her tenth birthday, she started actively participating in our local relay for life. that year she walked in memory of her uncle gary and dear friend, ernie, and in honor of her uncle stevie who was in the battle of his life...
for his life.
respectively, cancer robbed her of the man who she spent countless hours with out on his pontoon on his beloved lake misty. cancer robbed her of the man with whom she visited, shared candy corn, and whom she thought was her granddad. further, cancer was attempting to rob her of her uncle stevie with whom she went on most every vacation and celebrated every holiday.
she loved these men with all her heart...
~@~
over the next five years, cancer took katherine's great-uncle bill
and jack, her neighbor... her best buddy.
however, uncle stevie, beat the odds; he was in the 2% that survived!
~@~
even through loss, katherine continued to hope.
she continued to walk for a cure.
~@~
the option upon which she decided was a great one in her opinion.
on her invitation inserts, she wrote:
only the gift of your presence is requested.
however, you may make a contribution to alcan/rio tinto's
relay for life in memory of my uncles:
gary berrong
bill manion
or
steve hurd.
love, katherine
you may have noticed that steve hurd was listed as in memory of instead of in honor of...
katherine's uncle stevie died a week to the day before she received her graduation announcements in the mail...
he won the cancer battle but lost the war of life.
~@~
friends and family were very generous, so generous in fact, katherine was able to donate enough money to purchase more than 60 luminaries! she donated her own money for luminaries in memory of ernie and jack.
kat was thrilled she was able to pay her gifts forward to a great cause...
the search for a cure for cancer!
love and God's blessings,
dani xxx
