Bright colors and miracles of hope

On Monday, I traveled by bus to downtown Buffalo. I was headed to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to donate an afghan. It was the first afghan of my 365-day crocheting project. It was made mostly of donated yarn, and so, there is a wide variety of colors. It is a modern art afghan. My intention in making this afghan was to donate it so that someone who is going through cancer treatment could have enjoy a bit of colorful warmth.

After I went into the building, my first stop was at the mailroom, where my sister Diane works. We went downstairs to the volunteer office, where people can sign up to be volunteers or they can make donations.

I was ready to give my afghan away, and I felt happy that it would go to a new home. I took some pictures, and then Diane and I left the afghan in the volunteer office. We returned to the mailroom, where I kept my sister company as she finished her lunch break.

When Diane and her work mate were ready to deliver the mail, I left the mailroom and went back downstairs. There, I walked into the gift shop and looked at some of the things for sale. While I was in the gift shop, I heard the most wonderful sound. It was the sound of a bell ringing. I stopped to listen, and then, I heard applause. Everyone in the lobby was applauding, so I applauded, too. It was a joyful, miraculous moment because I had been told that, when patients are informed that they are cancer free, they have the opportunity to ring the bell.  It is the bell of life, of hope, and of love. For just a moment, when the newly cancer-free patient is ringing the bell, there are no strangers. Instead, there is a community of support for the person with cancer and for that person's family and friends. I felt honored and grateful and humbled to have played a very tiny part in that person's recovery. I hope for the same happy moment to come to the person who adopts my afghan.