Fabulous Evening....the first event that went so smoothly. So you know there were many hands making that happen. Shout out to our 'day of' workers...Lisa Gruenfelder, Peggy Goutink, Barbara Donnellan, Karen F (way too complicated a name...aka Lisa's sister-in-law), Teresa Doherty and Denise DeCarlo Humphrey.
There are also nerves...will they come? will I botch up a word speaking? do I have to speak? no band? deejay? enough raffles? venues? what day, what time? ....these worries are endless...Debbie and I tried very hard to allay our fears and concerns because it always works out...historically we went into the last week needing guests and each time we sold out ...even on the last day we were getting requests to come.....breathe.
And our friends and family not only put up with us, but they get it!!.. and remind us 'it will be fine." But you may know we don't want "fine" although with china fine is a great description - we want "fabulous"...or fabulous enough to really celebrate these women.
That is what this night is about and it is worth every effort when we can share their stories and have others realize why they were chosen as our honorees.
This annual event is based on our motto to inspire, empower and
strengthen, with each survivor representing one of the three words, but just like Evelyn each honoree past and
present bears all these aspects. This year we are excited to present our first annual “Evelyn Knapp Benevolence” Award to
one of the most generous and gracious supporters we have.
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| Annette, Maryann & Margaret |
Let me introduce our honorees...(words taken from the night's introductions)
Inspire - Maryann Graham
Inspire- to fill with enlivening emotion, to affect and guide,
to
stimulate to action, to motivate....
Enlivening emotion -
oh yeah!! Any one who knows Maryann would say that this is the perfect way to
describe her! Ready to incite a
party at all costs, ask her about how she
wooed the Harlem Globe Trotters using only a few small boxes of cereal at one
of our last wellness retreats.
You can normally identify her by her fingernails as oppose to her
finger prints....they usually have some inspiring script written on them like her most
recent message “bleep cancer”..... she does love nails, she even
polished nails to raise money for the Evelyn Knapp Memorial Run this past
November.
While nails make
Maryann happy so does going into the city to see “the kid” we only learned tonight 'Amanda' is her daughter's name.
So these things put a
smile on her face, but her love for animals can bring her to tears.
Andy Rooney said that animal owners are “nicer than the average person”. Animals love unconditionally, forgive immediately, they donʼt pretend to
like you and they donʼt disappoint. It is no wonder that
you have a bond with all animals, their positive attributes mirror your personality.
Maryann has really put
herself on the front lines for us , she has raised an enormous amount of money
for last years run and she continues to support us in everything she does
whether it be soliciting donations
or just spreading the word about Strength for Life. Recently while at a cancer seminar she called to reprimand us for not having
brochures displayed there.
Maryann has such
comfort and is so uplifting to those around her, she is the person you
want to be seated next to because her energy is so infectious - she truly inspires
others to embrace life, to enjoy life and to
live every moment to the fullest....we are thankful to have you
in our circle, Maryann, and are
blessed to know you!!
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| Maryann Graham |
*****
Empower - Annette Gerani
Breast cancer…and then some….4 surgeries in 3 years…countless
number of chemo and radiation therapies…a gifted artist …a gifted artist forced to adapt to her temporary limitations, going from beautiful murals to intimate works of
amazing artistry.
The meaning of the word Empower….
The quality to take control of your life and become
stronger and more confident…..clearly this is what Annette has done and why she is our “empower”
honoree.
As with what appears to be this years theme, Annette also like to
display poignant messages about what she
feels cancer should do ….
She is an animal lover, as well, particularly cats – especially Chester!
She has become quite a gifted “bitstrip” master and I have to be
careful about what is being said here because I know I will become a comic
strip before the end of this evening…..Jacqui has been
in more than a few hilarious ones- sometimes taking the form of different
shapes, sizes and ages…
A little more about Annette---she loves Lady Gaga, Marilyn Monroe
and the meatball place – (that’s a plug
for you, Donna Reale)– but those that take center stage are Amanda – her daughter
and her niece affectionately nicknamed “mini me.”
Annette is passionate, head
strong, resolute in her beliefs, grounded and extremely compassionate – her softer side may not be initially apparent but spend just a
little time with her and you will experience her empathy.
She is passionate about
empowering others on their cancer journey and she certainly holds no bars in
advising them. Challenged continuously for the last 4 years – and still choosing to use her humor and
artistry to get through each trial lands her a special spot on the Strength for
Life tapestry.
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| Annette Gerani |
(side bar)Now let me tell you about the 'show stopping' acceptance speech from Annette -
she twirled and sang excerpts from Lady Gaga tunes...got to love her!
Next year she will be the emcee!
*****
Strengthen - Margaret McAdorey
The meaning of Strength, is to have courage, to persevere, to
withstand adversity, fear or difficulty. As we sat down to consider our survivors as honorees
we were in awe of all you endured in such a short time and it
was clear to us that “strengthen” was the perfect fit.
In
March of 2011 , Margaret’s husband had major surgery for a heart condition which
turned into a lengthy, complicated hospital and rehab stay - during this time,
she had to have surgery for a complex ovarian cyst. All seemed fine until Margaret
got the call a week after her surgery that she had ovarian cancer – it happened
to be on the same day her husband returned home after his 5 week hospital
and rehab stay.
Margaret's
cancer journey officially began in May 2011 after her 2nd surgery to evaluate the extent of the cancer. It
was deemed an aggressive form. Months of chemotherapy totally depleted her strength and endurance and, worse yet, her confidence in her ability to accomplish everyday tasks.
She shares a story of how she remembers looking
up a flight of stairs and feeling so defeated
with just the thought of having to actually climb them. But being defeated was not what
Margaret had in mind, slowly and with great perseverance
she worked her way back to feeling not only like “herself” but maybe even
better!
Margaret's
daughter is the one responsible for finding Strength for Life for her - she
brought her a workout outfit and told her to go to the Stony Brook Class – we are
so thankful to her daughter for the introduction. Class would not be the same without Margaret - she is known as the
“official counter” which others in the class
are
grateful for! She
does incredible walking lunges, spanning the whole length of SB Cancer Center!
And she is smiling during all of it!!
She is a small package with a big punch, always up for any
challenge – she has the “I CAN” attitude that everyone needs to adopt. To Margaret it
seems to come naturally.
Strengthen is what you represent for your family, for other
survivors and for us... and we thank you for sharing yourself with us!
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| Margaret McAdorey |
*****
First Annual “Evelyn Knapp Benevolence Award”
Donna Reale.
(Debbie speaking) Donna
and I have been friends since we were 'tweens' and that was before the term tween was coined! So
it has been awhile, and although she certainly deserves an award for putting
up with me for that long that is not why she is being honored her tonight.
When
Strength for Life was form she was there to support in anyway, she
became our ‘go to person’ for advice since our first attempt at fundraising, Jac
and I always say that we know exercise but we fly by the seat of our pants
for everything else that comes along with running a non profit. We are forced
to learn as we go and Donna has been an invaluable resource.
Her
standard lines are “what do you need?” and “what can
I do?”
She
comes from a place of true generosity and is so humble, always wanting to
remain in the background. Kind of why she is not loving us for this
award!
But
please know that this is not me! SFL has
been talking about doing an Evelyn Knapp award of some kind and being that Evelyn gave so
much of herself to others we knew that 'benevolence' fit the honor.
The moment we decided on incorporating this
into our annual event the first thing everyone involved said was that Donna from 'Popei's ' should be the first
recipient –
-
so there you have it - unanimous vote.
When
I called 'D' to let her know that she was nominated for this award, she was like
why are you doing that?? no way, - my response was “because you deserve to be recognized” then she said - “Deb, thank you
is enough”
So thank you Donna!
Donna
offers before we can even ask and gives more than we would ever expect.
Her restaurant has been a venue for
fundraisers and she even provided incredible off site catering for our first recognition
dinner – people are still talking about the food that was served that night!
Her commitment to SFL began maybe even
before she fully understood the realm of our organization. But
in 2010 Donna accompanied her sister in law, Toni Ann who has since lost her battled
cancer, to a wellness retreat and this is where Donna witnessed first hand what
Strength for Life does.
I remember Donna commenting at the end of
the retreat that she was so proud of our work and so
impressed with what we do – these comments meant the world to me.
A
quote by Mother Teresa that reminds
us of Donna is
“It's
not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
The
dollar amount of the generosity to our small non profit is monumental to us,
but
the genuine gift from her heart is immeasurable.
Thank you Donna for your friendship and your support and your commitment to
Strength for Life, we are pleased to present you with this "Proclamation" from the Legislator of Patchogue.
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| Donna Reale & Debbie Hughes |
*****
......to be continued
