I know, I know, the whole Awareness thing was supposed to be last week, but I’m just getting a Round Tuit and until I had that I couldn’t do a post. The whole idea of Awareness is that it is supposed to help us do the things we can do to fight @$^* Invasive Species. I figure that a person doesn’t have to raise an alarm about that on specific sanctioned unholidays. A person can just go ahead and do it. Here we go.
I believe in the Power of Pink.. I believe that there is restorative power in the wheel of the seasons in Antrim County–the persistence of pale pink apricot blooms and even pinker nectarine blooms, for example, every single spring. I believe that there is tremendous healing in a piece of cherry pie offered by Betsy King wearing a pink hoodie. I believe in the Sisterhood of the Cute Shoes, and in the sisterhood of the ugly but extremely comfortable pink Crocs. I believe in the miracle of pale pink columbine growing in the Old Antrim City cemetery where some of my Civil War veterans sleep, and in the sunlit pink tulip in my birthday bouquet from my friend Helmy. I believe in pink fuchsias, largely because hummingbirds believe in them, and I’m pretty sure hummingbirds know more about these things than I do.
I believe in the profound power of laughter. I am pretty sure it can slay dragons. That is why there is a picture of the Pink Flamingo Preserve. I believe in the power of memory. That is why there are pink forget-me-nots, too.
But wait, wait–are you supposed to do something? Yes!! I’m glad you asked!! There are three things you can do if you are from Around Here, and two that you can do if you are from Away.
- There is a phenomenal effort planned by the singers and songwriters of northern Michigan to help Louan Lechler deal with the financial contingencies attendant upon her battle with the Invasive Species. Everyone in musical circles knows Louan, and on Sunday, October 10, everyone will be over at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Greilickville from 2-7:00 pm, singing and playing and generally carrying on. There will be music. There will be a pot luck. (There will be Pineapple Casserole.) There will be a silent auction and a cash bar. If you are from Around Here, there can be you, too. You will have one heckuva good time and do a good thing for a truly splendid human being. The price of admission? Well, as we like to say in northern Michigan, free will offering. I don’t see how you can go wrong. More info here. (If you are from Away, there might be something similar going on in your town for someone you know and love. Invasive Species have utter disregard for borders.)
- It has come to my attention that the reason for getting a flu shot is not just that you will be spared the misery of the plague. No, the reason for getting a flu shot is that you will keep from becoming a pest to your friend or neighbor or loved one whose immune system is compromised as s/he is going through oh, let’s say, chemotherapy, for example. So this is something you can do whether you are from Around Here or from Away. If you are from Around Here, there is even a bargain. On Thursday, October 14, from 3-7:00 pm you can get a flu shot and give blood over at the Township Hall. Two ways to be a useful citizen! If you have Medicare, you’re covered and the shot is free. If you don’t, it’s still a good deal at $15. More info here.
- Whether you are from Around Here or from Away, you can be loving and patient and supportive to all the friends and neighbors and relatives who are waging a battle against Invasive Species themselves. Don’t be scared. Step right up and ask how they’re doing. Listen to all of it. If they can live it, we can listen to it. Hush, now. Just listen. You will learn something useful, as life has a way of biting all of us in the derriere when we are distracted by other things. Trust me. There is Power in Pink.
Wendi
October 3, 2010
Mmmmm…pineapple casserole! Will it be pink? See you there!
Gerry
October 3, 2010
I’m pretty sure it will be golden, not pink. But you never know. Maybe if I threw in some cherries . . .
Cindy Lou
October 4, 2010
There truly IS power in pink! Oh to live closer and be able to join in an evening of music for Louan! Tap your toes, clap your hands and take a spin on the dance floor for me in your cute pink Crocs!!!!!
Gerry
October 4, 2010
I will be a dancing fool. Photos to follow.
Carsten
October 4, 2010
Thats right Gerry. Fight!
Many people – too many – has to fight cancer that has invaded their body. They need all the help and support they can get. Your call for support is one more “brick in the wall”.
You ask for us to listen. Let people know that you want to listen. Speak to them.
There is a Danisk writer “Johannes Møllehave” who wrote about cancer. I tried with my best English – which isn’t good – to translate one of his poems. http://c-langkjaer.dk/wordpress/about/about-silence/
I like it very much in Danish. You could probably improve it very much Gerry.
BTW, I’ll have a flu vaccination later this week 🙂
Gerry
October 4, 2010
I read your translation of Møllehave’s poem, Carsten, and think you handled it well. I had never thought of translating a poem. Maybe I’ll give it a try–a winter project. Anyway, you make a good point. It isn’t enough just to listen. It is important to speak, too, to say “I’m sorry you’re going through this” – to invite conversation. Then hush up and listen!
I’ll be going to the Township Hall on the 14th for my flu shot. It will be only the second one I’ve ever had. I’ve always been leery of the side effects, but it has finally registered in my little brain that one of the “side effects” of not being vaccinated is increasing the risk to people with compromised immune systems. It is one thing to weigh risks for myself, and another thing entirely for my choices to affect other people. Live and learn, live and learn.
P.j. grath
October 4, 2010
Gerry, you have inspired me. May I join the pink bandwagon?
Gerry
October 4, 2010
Absolutely! The pinker the merrier.
uphilldowndale
October 4, 2010
Sending healing shades of pink from across the globe. Tomorrow I’ll be in a place that glows pink from it’s very epicientre, I shall gather up a pocketful of pink just for Louan.
Over here in the UK, cancer treatment is funded by our national health service (although fundraising is sometimes needed if the patient needs some specialist drug (usally a new and not fully tested treatment) and family and friends will set to the task with gusto.) How is in the USA? (in general, I mean, I’m not asking about Louan’s situatuion.) Do your insurance companies deliver the goods or do the duck and dive at the costs
Gerry
October 4, 2010
Your expedition to the heart of pinkness is intriguing.
Over here . . . it’s complicated. In this instance, most of Louan’s actual treatment is covered by Medicaid, which is a sort of compromise. It’s not quite national health, and it doesn’t threaten insurance industry profits. Doesn’t pay for mammograms either. Dunno whether there is a maximum it will cover. If she had conventional insurance–which she could in no way afford–it would have come with various caps on coverage, co-pays, deductibles, and restrictions on which physicians or treatments would be reimbursable, depending on the insurance plan. There is nothing at all simple or straightforward about health care in this country.
However, the problem in this instance is that a person with modest resources, like Louan, does not have a whole lot saved up for a rainy day. The cushion, let us say, is thin. When surgeries and chemo leave her unable to work much for months on end, and the rainy days become a flood of biblical proportions . . . well, that’s why the fundraiser. Louan has played at a lot of benefits over the years, and done the graphics for a lot of fundraising appeals. She says it feels really odd to be the recipient of such efforts. The rest of us say she has paid it forward and has an enormous balance in the Bank of Human Decency. Now it’s our turn to buff up our karma.
uphilldowndale
October 4, 2010
Here in can be something of a post code lottery, not all treatments are available in all areas of the country, sometimes people have to battle with the local PCT (Primary Care Trust, who hold the funds) not what they need at such a difficult time.
We moan and groan about the NHS, all too often we focus on the faults: but never the less I am very proud of it.
Medical treatment aside, there are many hidden cost associated with cancer 😦 across the globe.
I know that it is difficult (and expensive) to get medical insurance if you plan to travel in the USA from the UK, if you’ve had a cancer diagnosis. So I figured it was going to be an expensive matter
Sending good karma and pink dollars.
Gerry
October 5, 2010
Amazing world, isn’t it? You’d think Members of Congress had never seen any of it at all.