Bears Care Luncheon
Last Friday I, along with three other Gilda’s Club members were lucky enough to attend the annual Bears Care luncheon for cancer survivors. Note: One becomes a cancer survivor at diagnosis. I’ve never been good at estimating crowds but I would guess about 100 people were in attendance.
Many different cancer related organizations were represented, giving everyone a chance to connect, celebrate survival and get one benefit from cancer. This was my second year in attendance. One day I hope to attend and not have my years attending match my current number of cancer battles.
So what did it entail?
The food was great. In case you’re really wondering, I had the chicken because I’m a man child and don’t like the taste of salmon.
We’re going to leave the current state of the Bears out of this and focus on positive things. (Deep breaths) Kevin Warren spoke first and was amazing. He shared the story of his sister’s battle with cancer, a lifelong teacher, who’s last wish was not for herself, but for her brother to help get kids to and from the cancer center for treatment. Carolyn’s Comforts was established to do just that, with a personal donation of $1 Million dollars from the Warren Family.
Next up was Dr. Celeste Cruz (fellow Lane Tech alum). Her specialties are listed above and as I am no doctor you best read it for yourself. She stressed the importance of mammograms for women and overall routine screenings and doctor’s appointments to help prevent and catch cancer. I can’t really say it better myself but as someone who sees enough doctors to fill an Infinity Gauntlet twice, there’s nothing to be scared of other than letting cancer spread undetected.
A great addition this year was comedian and breast cancer survivor Tracy DeGraaf (Link to Website). Now I love my dark twisted sense of humor so hearing earnest talk about Jesus from a comedian made me apprehensive but she was really really good.
One thing I did not realize going into this event was that I would be the only man there (Kevin Warren had to go tend to official matters after his speech). Not that this was a problem but it was pointed out a few times during the comedy set- all in good fun though.
Speaking of fun:
Again, I was lucky to attend and share a day with fellow cancer survivors, smiling, laughing and even shedding a few tears. Plus a free t-shirt and cookies for the kids are just icing on the cake.
In all seriousness, the Bears go above and beyond through Bears Care for events like this and being a part of this was an honor. None of this would be possible without Gilda’s Club Chicago who has included me the last two years and for being there for people like me throughout this hellish journey.
So here’s some links to check out:
Bears Care: https://www.chicagobears.com/community/bears-care
Gilda’s Night Out: https://www.gildasnightout.org/
I’ll detail this out more in a future post but buy your tickets now and let me know if you want to donate to the silent auction!
Also, not trying to critique here but I think The Care Bears would really pop……
-Joe
You were probably a great friend to many people there. Take care Joe