It was a wild morning. It all started when her little boy cat Latte decided to wake her up at 3:30am when she was trying to sleep in. Even for Cece ,who is an early riser, 3:30 am is early. Latte was relentless. First he gently head butted to get under the overs, then he pawed her butt, then he breathed on her ankle, then he pawed the back of her neck, then he nipped her ankle! Cece dealt with this until 4:30 when she finally got up.
She milled around for a while and decided that after her chai tea, she would get dressed and go out early to do her grocery shopping. She looked at several shirts and could not decide what to wear. Finally, she chose to put on a hot pink tie dyed
Team in Training T-shirt and off she went.
Cece did her shopping and was finishing up in the vegetable aisle. She was by the tomatoes and fruit when she noticed a woman. She came up and stood directly in front of Cece...just staring. She did not say anything. Cece asked her if she needed her to move ...she thought maybe she wanted tomatoes. The woman said no. Cece then realized the woman was reading her T-shirt. The woman started crying and told Cece that her mom had died from Leukemia and now her sister has it. She said, there is no hope. We have cancer in our family.
There in the grocery aisle at some horrific time in the morning, Cece told the woman the story of her family's cancer history. She told the woman there is hope. She spoke to the woman about Team in Training and how it raises money for cancer research and that most of the money that is raised goes directly to fund cancer research."There is hope," Cece told the woman. You can do something positive yourself by getting involved...there are walking ,running and cycling programs that you can get involved in. Cece gave her the Leukemia Lymphoma Society's name.
The woman listened and Cece noticed the woman's husband was listening too. Cece asked the woman, "Can I hug you? Can you hear me saying there is hope...right here and right now in the vegetable aisle?" The woman said, yes, she .."now knows there is hope." Cece and the woman hugged surrounded by tomatoes and raspberries..
This is why we are born to be alive. We are born to take risks. We are born to challenge ourselves....because you never know...in that one moment when your cat wakes you up early, and you cannot decide what shirt to wear out shopping,....that you will put on the exact shirt that someone needs to see and read and process...and you might give hope or encouragement or a gift...to a stranger that is in need..
