Sometimes the people we know do really cool things. My friend, and I am proud to call her my friend, Rebecca Strong is one of them. She has organized an event that I wanted to share with everyone. She wrote this post for me about her event. Please consider going. Can’t go? Make a donation. Buy a friend a ticket. Every little bit counts.
I work a full-time job, am a mom, have a house to help clean (I’m blessed with a husband who does his fair share and more), a family to help cook for (see that note about my husband), but after the girl is asleep and my husband is happily reading tech blogs, I pull out my cape, leap tall buildings, and stop raging locomotives. Really. Because we all know that the world isn’t going to save itself. Actually what really happens, is that I sit down in front of my laptop and surf the internet. And I think up fun ways to raise funds for the Taussig Cancer Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. Yes, I know they have benefactors with much deeper pockets than mine; contacts much savvier than mine, more important than mine, more polished than mine. But you know what my contacts have ? Passion, creativity, and the willingness to stand up on a stage in front of a lot of young people to say, “Hey cancer? FUCK YOU!”
Most of us know someone who’s been affected by cancer. With the advent of the internet, and especially social media, we’re more connected than ever and can reach more people than we ever thought. Cancer is a disease that truly doesn’t discriminate. I was reading the newspaper in Youngstown (where I’m from) and a 5 year old girl died last week. My daughter is five. My heart is absolutely broken for her family. Stefanie Spielman, wife of former football star Chris Spielman, just lost her 5th battle with breast cancer yesterday at the age of 42, leaving a husband and 4 children behind. My husband is 40, and while his risk of breast cancer is slim, he’s not immortal.
My dad wasn’t immortal either, although he was the one who could make everything better. When something needed fixed in my life, he was the first one I called. Sadly, that all ended on April 18, 2008. He was 56. My mother was a 50 year old widow. I was 29, my sister 24, and my daughter, only 4. Just recently Sasha found a photo of her and my dad together the summer before he passed. She started to cry and told me she missed him. I comforted her and let her know that it was ok to cry; I missed him too. Then she told me that what upsets her the most is that she has a hard time remembering him. And with those words, my heart was shattered.
To honor my dad, and to honor this glorious life that I am so incredibly grateful to have, a few friends in a rock band agreed to play a concert at the Beachland Ballroom’s tavern to raise money for the hospital in which my dad spent many of his last 6 years receiving treatment. Two other bands signed on to play, one from Cleveland Heights, and another from Youngstown, who’s lead singer used to work for my dad, but agreed to play before we had the conversation that led to this discovery. Tickets are $7. That gets you in to the show to see Attack Cat, First in Space, and User Sets Mode+. Doors open at 8pm, and the show starts at 8:30pm on Saturday, December 5th. I also hear that they have Great Lakes Christmas Ale at the Beachland (nice little plug for one of my favorite, local and environmentally-friendly companies).
Do some good this holiday season. Come out to the Beachland with your $7. All of the ticket sales will go to Taussig. Hear the bands. Rock out. Dance, even! Drink a Christmas Ale and give back to Great Lakes and the good work they do. Go home and go to bed (after hanging up your proverbial super hero cape), and know that a good night out did a world of good.
The Starfish Story
adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”
