Thanks for coming out to Martini's for Hodgkin's

My thank you letter to all who came out to support & donate:

Oh what a night… I’ve left the bar many times without the things I came with, hats, shoes, boyfriends; but never my hair!

Big thanks to everyone that came out Thursday for Martini’s for Hodgkin’s at Bar 56. The evening was a huge success in raising funds for The Lymphoma Foundation of Canada in support of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma research.

My thanks to all my friends that donated gift baskets & gift certificates through their corporations in support of the event, I knew I could count on you guys to help! Congratulations to all those that won gift baskets and gift certificates. (Robyn I’m especially excited for you and your SAAB gift certificate, as a new mom you deserve it!)

I had a blast! It was a little hard for me to stop and chat with all of you for as long as I would have liked to, but just note I was so pleased that each and every one of you came out to support me and my event. And boy did I need it; it was tough parting with all that red hair… which has provided me with a fabulous opportunity to see all the silver roots that are underneath. Errr!

Actually it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be to cut off all my hair because I had all my friends cheering me on, and I was able to donate that ponytail to Locks of Love, and organization that makes wigs for kids going through the same deal.

One of the things I forgot to mention in my impromptu address to the crowd was why it was so important for me to host this event. Empathy. During my process of being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s leading up to treatment I have had to undergo some difficult procedures and surgeries, and each time the doctors would say to me “don’t worry you’re so lucky, you’re young, strong and healthy; you can endure this.” And I would/ am enduring, but I think about how horrible it would be for a 5 year old or a 75 year old to endure say something like my bone marrow collection (drill into the hip bone) and am just overwhelmed with empathy for others who may not be as young, strong, or healthy as I am, yet have to endure none the less; and so I needed to do something.

So together we were able to raise funds to help others endure Lymphoma and all its pleasantries, but if they’re really lucky they have great friends like I do who support them and that’s the most important help anyone can get.

Thanks again for coming out to show your support.
Tam