The Surprise Visit

Well, I just finished editing and emailing all the photos taken of the ladies from the Pamper Party at the "Hooked on Hope" event held yesterday in St. Pete! I call this collection the "Faces of Courage & Hope".

Yesterday, when I arrived at the event, I was given a button that says "I wear pink in honor of ____" and I wrote in my sister Karen's name, since she passed away from breast cancer 5 years ago. Then when I walked into the main room to find a seat, I was drawn to one woman, who had no hair and her glasses were perched on top of her head. I instantly felt drawn to her for some unknown reason and knew I had to speak to her before the event was done. Periodically during the speakers and lunch, I found myself glancing her way and would see her quietly reading or looking off into the distance, but smiling whenever someone spoke to her. The more I looked at her, the more she reminded me of my sister, Karen, who also lost all her hair and perched her reading glasses atop her head too. After all, Karen, was the reason I was committed to helping with events for breast cancer. Karen had been so brave through several rounds of chemo, and when her hair became so thin and straggly that she made the decision to have her son just shave it all off - we both cried. She remained such a positive force throughout her ordeal and would constantly repeat that "God has a plan for me and I trust that." She was my hero and I felt so ashamed of all the petty things I was worrying over at that time and vowed to look at my life from her perspective. Anyway, the events for breast cancer hold a special place in my heart in that I'm able to pass on some of Karen's positive vibes to others suffering with this disease.

As the "pampering" portion of the event began, I got caught up in taking some of the photos of the ladies AFTER they'd been pampered and lost track of the bald-headed woman I'd felt such a strong magnetic pull towards from the start of the event. About the 10th woman I'd photographed just gave me a big hug and with tears in her eyes, I turned and the bald-headed woman was being escorted over to me for her own photo session. I asked her to write down in my notebook her email address so I could send today's photos to her and I asked what her name was. She smiled at me as she then stopped writing, turned to me and said, "My name is Karen." I then felt my heart leap out of my chest, tears welled up and I couldn't speak, so I reached out to her and gave her a big long hug. I then pointed to the button I was wearing that had my sister, Karen's name on it. She smiled and we hugged again. I knew then why I had been so drawn to her - my sister was paying me a visit!

Yes, it was truly an emotional day to speak with these ladies about their individual journeys with breast cancer and marvel at their courage in remaining positive during such a traumatic time in their lives. I also found out from one of the other survivors that knows this particular Karen, that her cancer is terminal, and that this was probably the last time I'd see her.  But, I’m sure God has a plan for her too, just as he did for my sister.  Yes, there were many tears, some big hugs, and even bigger smiles.  For myself, I left with an uplifted heart from the inspiration these ladies had given to me and, of course my own visits from both Karens, two of God’s special angels.