While we were all drinking our cocktails or imported beers, a man stood up on a cushy leather couch, tapped his cocktail glass, and received everyone's attention.
His name was Michael Swart and was 30 years old. Looking dapper, and not at all nervous to speak to a room of 30+ people, he told us that he was once a patient at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.
We were all in shock. No way. He looked so healthy!
He told us that in the middle of his sophomore year of college, at 19 years old, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After 6 weeks of treatments, he was finally in remission. It took 2 years of chemotherapy to keep the cancer from coming back. To reiterate: that's from 19 years old to 21 years old.
What were most of you doing when you were 19-21 years old? Not sitting in a room getting chemotherapy fed through your veins, I'm sure.
Thankfully, he has been cancer free for the last 10 years.
Everyone in the room had goosebumps by the end of his speech, some people had damp cocktail napkins in their hands from a few fallen tears. He was a phenomenal speaker, and inspired everyone in the room to not take their health for granted anymore. Friends thanked me for inviting them, since his speech reminded them of what was real, when all day they had their own, smaller worries in their minds.
So often during the day, we're stressed about work, relationship issues, friend drama, or family situations, and while those things impact our daily lives, we often forget that we're healthy. We wake up every day expecting to feel alive. Maybe we wake up with a headache from a need for caffeine or because we partied too hard the night before. But, we have our health.
If you're thankful for the health that you have- why don't you purchase a ticket to the Friends of St. Jude Winter Gala? The money goes straight to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, so you're able to help a child (or 19 year old) become cancer-free by purchasing a ticket for $100, while enjoying an open bar, eating hor'dourves, and submitting silent auction bids for cigars or jewelry.
You're able to register for the event here: Friends Of St. Jude Winter Gala
Details follow:
When: Friday, December 2nd
Time: 9pm-1am
Where: Angel Orensanz Foundation/Lower East Side (Norfolk and Houston)
Twitter: NYC_StJude
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| 2010 Friends of St Jude Winter Gala (Angel Orensanz Foundation) |
I hope that Michael's story impacted your day as it did mine that night at Chelsea Manor.
xo
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