Day 33. Overwhelming generosity.

One thing I’ve noticed during this experience so far is how incredibly generous and kind people are.  It doesn’t matter if I’ve known them my entire life, for 5 minutes, or I’ve never even met them at all.  The outpouring of support has been overwhelming, but in a very, very good way.

Last night was the Light The Night walk at the Tacoma waterfront, and I was glad to be a part of it.  While I wish I didn’t have to deal with this lymphoma monster in the first place, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a cause that I’m happy and honored to support.  For the past couple weeks my team had been raising money for the society, and I still can’t believe how much money we were able to raise in such a short time.  Our team ended up bringing in over $3300!!

I’m also in awe over how many of my friends and family members came out to support both me and the LLS.  Some of them I hadn’t seen in years!  We ended up having about 25 people on our team (plus a couple of four-legged furry friends!), and had one of the largest groups at the event.  It was a great (and very emotional) night, and I thank everyone that came!

Back before all of this cancer crap started and I was still planning on going on the cruise, I had started talking to people in the “cruise family” group on Facebook.  I’d done the same thing prior to the first Sixthman concert cruise I went on, and ended up befriending a couple people in that group that to this day I’m still friends with. So I happily chatted with people in the new group for months and since I was a Sixthman veteran, I was able to answer many questions they had. 

When I found out that I’d no longer be able to go on the cruise, I made a post about it in the group and told everyone how bummed I was that I wouldn’t be able to meet them and party with them onboard.  I thought maybe I’d get a couple “get well soons” but I never, ever expected the response I got.  Since my original post, a huge amount of people have decided to wear violet bandanas onboard. They’ve organized an unofficial violet theme night, and ordered ribbon pins to give cruisers as they board the ship.  They’ve tweeted the artists and emailed Sixthman to try to get as many people involved as possible.  They’ve asked for my address so they can send me souvenirs since I won’t be able to get them myself.

I’m starting to tear up just recounting all of the things that I’ve seen people post on the group page.  These are people that I’ve never met before, complete strangers supporting me out of the goodness of their hearts.  I wish there was something I could do to give them a proper “thank you,” and I really hope there is a second annual Florida Georgia Line cruise so I can hug each and every one of them.

A couple weeks ago, I found a woman online who runs a non-profit and does one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen anyone do.  She knits beautiful hats and sends them to cancer patients, free of charge, and the only thing she asks for in return is for referrals to other cancer patients.  I received a GORGEOUS hat from her a couple days ago, and I’m not even going to wait until I’m bald to wear it. It’s stunning.  Thank you so much, Linda from Connie Caps, for everything you do!

I never in a million years would have wished for cancer, but it did come with a tiny bit of good - it has shown me that among all of the bad shit in the world there are still selfless, amazing people out there.  For that, I am thankful.