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Subject: [FOLKLORE FAMILY] Re: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Home Delivery
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 11:57:40 EDT



A Pocket Full of Quarters

Searra, an eight-year-old brain tumor patient, had become a
"regular" in the Radiation Oncology Department, much like the
other patients who came to the cancer center everyday for a
five- or six-week period. With my office located near the main
entrance, I could hear Searra, also called CC, coming from a
distance.
Sure enough, she would pop her head in every morning around
10:00 a.m. to say, "hi," or, more importantly, to check out the
toys and coloring materials I had stashed in my office. Several
steps behind, CC's grandmother, also called "Mommie," since she
served as her guardian, would come trailing in as she tried to
keep up with CC's anxious pace.
CC was not the least bit interested in hearing more about
her cancer or her hair loss. When she walked into the
department, it was time to socialize with the staff, who became
her instant friends, and to see what kind of masterpiece she
could color for her "Mommie" before she was called back for her
treatment.
I was taken aback by the genuine love CC had for her
"Mommie." Whenever I would ask about her home life, her school
work, or even how she was feeling, every response referred to
her time spent with her "Mommie," the funny stories they shared,
and how much she loved her. On numerous occasions, CC made it
clear that her "Mommie" was the center of her world.
When CC was first being treated with radiation therapy, the
therapists told her that they would give her a quarter each day
if she promised to keep her head still on the treatment table.
Certainly, after six weeks of therapy, she had a pocketful of
quarters! So, on the last day, the therapists wanted to know
what big toy she was going to buy with all her change. CC
replied, "Oh, I am not going to buy a toy. I am going to buy
something for 'Mommie' because of all the nice things she does
for me."
CC's sincerity, unselfishness, warmth, and loyalty to her
"Mommie" have taught me about what is really important in life.
She constantly shows that loving others with true commitment is
the best gift you could give another - whether it is a family
member or a friend. Certainly, CC has an excuse to complain or
to be angry at the world for her childhood is being lived
totally different than the other children in her third grade
class. I have never heard her complain about her bald head, her
swollen face and body as a result of the steroids, or her
inability to have the same energy level to play outside. CC
continues to live her life the way she has chosen, and that
includes giving of herself to make the world a better place for
others and especially her "Mommie."
CC has been a reminder to me to not take for granted those
people I love and to look beyond the superficiality that is
often found in living life day by day. I have been reminded to
be more thankful for what I have today and to not dwell on what
is behind me or what lies ahead. CC, just like many, many other
cancer patients, is the true example that we aren't always dealt
the perfect hand, so we have to make the best of what we have
today.
I have thought more about those people who fill my life
with happiness. I have continued to love and to be thankful for
those people with whom I would want to share my "pocket full of
quarters."

By Anne C. Washburn
Reprinted by permission of Anne C. Washburn (c) 1995, from
Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark
Victor Hansen, Beverly Kirkhart, Patty Aubery and Nancy
Mitchell.





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