From the first moment
my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from
the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer
seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did
little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known
reason, I started this blog…
All you have to do is Google “teen kills” and you come up
with 74,200,000 hits.
Google “teen saves” and you get 22,800,000 hits.
*sigh*
On May 17, 2014 at 6 pm, it seemed like there was a picnic
happening at Cooper High School’s Barb Lehman Stadium. The stadium was open as
it would be for a football, soccer, or lacrosse game or a track meet, but
instead of the crowd filing meekly to their bleacher seats, groups were
pitching tents, awnings, and a jail on the inner ring of the running track.
Frisbee football broke out occasionally, as did real
football scrimmages. But there were also games of tag, and serious set ups
going on. Vendor standing selling everything from pink, purple, orange, red,
and blue wrist bands to “tacos in a bag” and cream cheese wontons popped up
between the tents. Sound systems were tested, and then white bags began to
appear in front of the tents and across the track along the outside ring. Signs
popped up a well, both announcing wares to be sold and the names of the groups
hosting teams: CHS Faculty, Orange Orangutans, The Cure Crew, Violets Aren’t
Blue, and fifty-four others.
While school colors appeared – orange and blue for hosting
Cooper High School and red and blue for sister school Armstrong – the most
common color was white with purple writing on T-shirts boldly proclaiming, “Finish
The Fight”. Even more obvious as well as the most inspiring, were the purple
T-shirts of the men and women who had SURVIVED cancer. The backs of the shirts
carried the message, “One Day. One Night. One Community. One Fight.”
The teenagers on the field weren’t just there to entertain
or be entertained – they were there to support a cause. They had worked hard,
and under the calm eye of their advisor, the student planning committee made up
of members from both high schools, planned and executed the entire event. In
the end, the fifty-nine teams raised $35,746.07 that will go toward cancer
research.
As my wife – who is now a three-year-plus breast cancer
survivor – and I walked around the track for the survivor’s lap, I commented, “These
are teenagers at their very, very best.”
These teens were excited NOT over the latest fashion, the
latest iphone app, the latest itune release, the latest who’s-dating-whom –
they were excited to be a part of the fight against cancer. Among the Armstrong
students, the participation was driven even more strongly than among their
Cooper counterparts because many walked for a classmate – a
teenager! – diagnosed with cancer.
Sadly, the media didn’t cover the event at all this year.
There were no articles in the Sun Post (a local paper) – the links below are
for last year’s event. There were no news crews interviewing the teens. There
were no awards. No public acclaim. No attention.
Which perhaps, in the long run, is best. We shouldn’t be
doing fund raisers because we get noticed or are allowed tax write offs. We
should be doing it for the sheer joy of knowing that we are helping others.
THAT is what makes this event so exciting for me. THAT is why I grinned
foolishly at the antics of the teenagers on the brightly lit field at ten o’clock
at night.
THIS is what teenagers at their very, very best can DO!
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