Location: UIC Student Center
Date: Saturday, November 17, 2012; 10:30 am-2:30 pm
“Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t
take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.” – American Beauty, Dreamworks, 1999
There was a time as I was
growing up, when I used to keep track of some of the best days of my life. I remember a day when I was around 7 and my
parents I had had gone for lunch at one my favorite restaurants. I can almost remember the taste of what I ate
that day. We then walked on the main
street and my dad bought me a Walt Disney comic book. We then did some shopping and the spent the
afternoon visiting a ship that had docked at the local harbor and was open for public viewing. Finally, we came home and saw a children’s
movie on the television. There have been
other days since, and some I can still remember as if they happened just
yesterday. Today was another occasion
that I will file under unforgettable experiences of my life.
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| Our table |
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| Nancy and Gina are ready to go |
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| The room filled up soon |
Kristen had done this event the
previous year and told us how it would go.
Children and parents would do the rounds and when they arrived at our
table, we would pretty much let the kids do what they wanted. She said that some of them might be weak and
we were to support them in any way we can.
In fact, a few days ago we had received an email from MAW saying that if
any of the volunteers woke up that morning with symptoms of illness, we were to
refrain from showing up, due to reduced immune system of some of the
children. Fearing this, I had even
postponed my flu shot, were I to develop a fever. One of the other announcers also requested
some of us to help with the lunch service by either helping out with serving or
in carrying the food to the tables.
Since there were several volunteers to help out with that, I stayed with
my team.
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| Steven: The most well-dressed man in the room |
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| Olivia and Kristen starting their masterpiece |
After a slow start, we started
children started visiting our table. The
first of that was a little 18 month old girl, Olivia. Kristen took charge of her and Olivia was so
comfortable, that her grandmother left her with us and went on to look after
Olivia’s siblings. Sitting on Kristen’s
lap, Olivia started playing with colors, using her little fingers to make a
brilliant, colorful mess on the paper. The
look on Olivia’s face was intense, as she reveled in creating her
masterpiece. After she was done playing
on two sheets of paper I put them off on the wall behind our table, displaying
what this day was all about. Kristen
took Olivia to the next table where they were making colored bulbs. In the brief time that she spent with us,
Olivia had won our hearts. Olivia’s
mother and her 6 month old brother Jerry stopped by to pick her up. We asked her mom what had brought them here
and learned that besides her three other siblings, Olivia once had an older
brother who was taken from them at the age of five. Every child who was attending that day had
been affected in some way. But today was
all about celebration. You could see it
on the faces of the children, their parents and all of the volunteers.
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| We had a lot of visitors |
Others followed, including Steven,
a most well-dressed young man and then several girls, all of whom participated in
the arts and craft activities. Many of
them had their wishes granted through MAW and their parents were very thankful
for what we were doing. As most of the
children were having lunch, I decided to walk around the room and visit the
tables of other institutions that were participating.
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| Other participating institutions |
My first stop was at Stephanie Joseph Memorial Fund, an organization dedicated to helping people with
limitations achieve their life’s dream.
This fund has been developed in the memory of Stephanie Joseph, who was
a competitive figure skater and lost her battle with cancer while in
college. The volunteers there were
helping children make Thanksgiving cards.
They asked me if I wanted to make a card for something that was thankful
for and I said that while I would not make a card, I was thankful for all of
the wonderful people in the room.
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| Donation was made to UIC |
Some of the other institutions
that I stopped by were:
- Gilda’s Club, Cancer In The Classroom: Helps with the understanding of cancer diagnosis and its impact on the classroom.
- St. Baldrick’s Foundation: They are committed to funding the research to find cures for childhood cancers. They handed UIC a big check and afterwards I spoke with their representative who told me that they were having a fund raiser early next year, which would include shaving your head. After my last haircut, that would not be a stretch and something that I may be interested in.
- StarlightChildren’s Foundation: To quote them, they are, ‘Improving the quality of life for children with serious medical conditions by providing entertainment, education and family activities which help them cope with pain, fear and isolation of a prolonged illness’
- Children’s Oncology Services Inc.: They offer ‘One Step At A Time’ programs that offer children facing cancer a chance to bond with other pediatric cancer patients and survivors in a non-hospital setting. This is through activities like summer camp where they can experience a week or two of carefree fun.
- Bear Necessities: A pediatric cancer foundation, who had their table right next to ours. They had empty glass bulbs and children were filling them with multiple colors and swirling them around to create patterns. After drying, these are labeled with the child’s name and sold in order to raise money.
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| The colored bulbs of 'Bear Necessities' |
I finished my walk and stopped by
at a final table where two ladies were helping kids with temporary print tattoo’s. Finding me looking at the various designs,
they asked if I would like one. At first
I said no, but then thought why not. I
picked a koala bear print and had them put it on the back of my hand. While I would never compare my life with
anything these children may have been through, at that particular moment I felt
as if I was one of them.
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| My koala tatoo |
After 2 pm we started wrapping up
and putting our arts supplies back in the box.
Many children, who had left their fingerprint turkeys to dry, came and
picked them up. Many were walking around
with the turkey headdress and one brave soul had even attempted to make the
finger pilgrims. I took down our banners
and Olivia’s artwork genuinely sorry that the party was over. I said goodbye to my colleagues and when
Kristen learned that I was looking for the Blue Line stop in order to go to the
airport, she offered to walk me there.
We both were in great spirits and joked around as we went towards the
train station. I wished her for
thanksgiving and said goodbye, promising to stay in touch. I stood on the platform with my bag, now
containing brochures for the various organizations whose tables I had visited,
along with one precious commodity. I had
kept one of Olivia’s paintings and it now occupies a proud place on my office
wall. I thought about the privilege of
being a part of something so special today.
I thought about all the insignificant things in my life that have worried
me or have made me angry, when all pales in comparison to everything that I had seen
that morning. And I thought about
another quote from American Beauty, which sums up everything, as well as the
futility of me trying to explain in words what this day had been – a highlight
of my week, my month, my year.
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| Olivia's artwork: The one on the right is now on a wall in my office |
“…but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the
world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing
it all at once, and it’s too much.my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about
to burst…And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and
then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for
every single moment of my stupid little life…you have no idea what I’m talking
about, I’m sure. But don’t worry…you
will someday.” – American Beauty, Dreamworks, 1999
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