Once everybody was seated, the Bosom Buddies started talking and thanking everybody for coming. Then they mentioned why they threw the fundraiser. They said I inspired it because when they came to my house to give me an embroidered robe, Jenna said she wanted one too. They realized their program didn't have enough money to provide one for her and that's when they decided to have a fundraiser. I didn't realize I actually inspired this whole extravaganza. Wow.
Dr. Bremner got to give her speech first. Her presentation was very informative, but also very detailed. So people were being a little chatty and not totally listening and I thought "oh good, maybe they can eat and ignore me too. This will be a piece of cake." Towards the end of her presentation, unexpectedly, a drunk lady at our table barked out something obnoxious like "Too much information! We are confused!" and my jaw dropped. Did she really just say that out loud? And approximately 5 feet from the doctor, no less! Wow, some people have nerve (or liquid courage). This freaked me out. I texted my friend next to me and was like "omg I hope the lady next to you doesn't groan during my speech!"
Next up was another survivor. Her story was so heartwarming, she captivated the whole audience. She had stage 4 breast cancer and was given less than a year to live. It was in her bones, and she is alive and cancer free for 8 years now. She was so inspiring. Her 8 year old daughter even came up and sang a song with her. She is living proof your attitude really does make a difference, she said so herself.
It was my turn. I was thinking "my speech is a snooze fest compared to that!" But I was ready. I didn't even get stage fright. As a teacher, I'm used to speaking to a crowd. But, as soon as I started talking and I said "2 months ago I found out I have cancer..." I started to get choked up. It's really hard to talk about yourself, especially when the emotions are still so new and raw. Somehow, I managed to plow through. I had some notes, and only had to refer to them a few times and ad-libed in between. I talked about how I ate blueberries on my oatmeal every day, I was healthy, I am young, I have no history of cancer in my family and yet... it still happened to me. I talked about how alone I felt. How ashamed, embarrassed, and scared I was. Then I gave props to the Bosom Buddies for encouraging me to open up and allow others to help me. It truly has changed this whole experience to have the support group around me that I so resisted at first. I mentioned how turning 30 used to seem so old and how now I realize I still have my whole life ahead of me. I got a few cheers from the crowd when I mentioned I only have two treatments left. I also got some cheers when I mentioned how exciting it is to get new boobs for my birthday this summer. I made sure to say that I think anything is possible if you just believe. This of course inspired me to tell them how I wanted sod in my backyard so I "slathered sunblock on my bald ass head and made it happen!" and that one really got the crowd going. I don't know if I should have dropped the word "ass" in front of a bunch of older ladies, but it seemed to go over great.
On the way out, my friend told me that I have inspired her and I have put her own life into perspective. This makes me so happy. I really love that I can be a positive influence in people's lives and this is only just the beginning. Everything happens for a reason...