A Special Encounter

I mentioned in my previous entry that I seem to randomly encounter women recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer that need the support I can give them from my own experience with the disease. Today at the grocery, I had a completely difference kind of “support encounter” that I’d like to share with you.

You may be aware that Yoplait Yogurt puts pink lids on their containers in the fall. If you save these lids and mail them back to Yoplait, they will donate ten cents for every lid to the Susan B. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation. I eat Yoplait yogurt normally, so purchasing the product isn’t unusual for me. At the grocery checkout stand, the clerk asked me if I was saving the yogurt lids and I answered, “Yes, I’m a Breast Cancer survivor and it’s an important cause to me.” She went on to say that she was also collecting them from customers and mailing them in. I paid for my groceries and the young man bagging them asked if he could help me out with them. I usually decline, but for some reason I accepted.

On the way out of the store he asked me how long it had been since I had cancer and I told him seven years. He then told me that his mother had recently been diagnosed, but she had kept it a secret. His sister found out by seeing some cancer literature in the mail and confronted their mom. He asked if he could ask me some questions and of course I said yes. We talked for a few minutes and I was fine until he said, “My Mom has to get well. We need her.” That’s when the tears came to my eyes. His, too.

I gave him a hug and my phone number. I told him to have his mother or sister call me if they wanted to. And for him to call if he had more questions. I gave him the best reassurance I could that with good doctors, treatment and support his mom would be ok. I told him that it was very important for the family to make sure she wasn’t alone in her fight. She was trying to protect them when she was the one that needed special care. He agreed and said they were trying to do that.

I think this encounter has touched me more than any other. For a young man, probably no more than 19, to have the courage to talk to me, has so impressed me. I will make a point of checking in with him to see how his mom is doing. It’s the very least I can do.

I’d also like to thank all of you that have left such wonderful comments here and on 4shared. They are amazing and if I was able to soften the pain of this disease even a tiny bit, I have been blessed.

Thank you.