Dear Jon,
Before anything else, allow me to say thank you for the great “Our Town” column you write. You’ve got groupies that turn to your article as soon as they get the Manila Mail. And, of course, thank you too to the Manila Mail for being the vehicle that generates excitement and some good anxiety in our community. Many more!!!
Your column gives us all a sense of belonging. After all, this is our town – you, me and every single individual in our great Filipino American community.
As we all know, October is Breast Cancer
Awareness Month. In the past, it really didn’t matter much to me. I just knew
it was a month when folks wore pink ribbons and participated in some kind of a
run on Pennsylvania Avenue.
There were lots of TV commercials, radio announcements and news stories about
it. I was deluged with “junk mail” as well.
My perception changed on October 10, 2002
when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It profoundly changed my life and
rocked my world. It also gave me pause to rethink my own career path and my
involvement in our town. As everyone knows, I’m constantly in motion – in
meetings and conferences, on the streets to rally for a cause, often times
flying on trouble-shooting missions coast to coast. I still move a lot but the
pace now is a lot more measured.
Looking back to that day in October four years
ago, I recall being hit really hard as I confronted the reality of this
disease. Survival, of course, came to mind immediately. “Why me?” I kept asking.
Yet, I was not so much concerned about myself as I was of my husband Ben and
our daughter Melanie. How will they take it? But they surprised me. “We’ll lick
this together, mom,” I remember Melanie telling me. Instantly, we reversed
roles – a daughter calmly telling her mother that she’ll take care of her and
that everything is going to be all right.
But next to Ben and Melanie, our
community – our town – was there for me as well. Soon as the word got
out, I was bombarded with get-well wishes. Many phoned and e-mailed to say they
were keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. But the most heartening message
was from folks who confided that they too battled this big “C” themselves. Some
even shared special tips on how they managed to get around the bad side effects
of treatment. We laughed. We cried. We had a special pink sorority going.
Our town was the best medicine (again,
second to Ben, Melanie and my family) one could ever take. So who cares if we
have l0l different Fil Am organizations. They are all good people, doing good
things. Who else has two big Galas on the same night? I guess we just have so
many things to celebrate. Next time, let’s talk about one giant gala and
celebrate all we can in one evening. What other community can generate so much
excitement on the internet based on one person’s opinion. It’s challenging and
envigorating, and we get passed it at the end of the day. What other community
can balance so many local activities and still have so much passion left for helping our different
projects at home? What other community can survive a centennial and have
so much energy left for the next centennial? There’s so much more we’d like to
do, especially in the political arena – voter mobilization, electing FilAms to
public office. But given what’s already in the pipeline, I feel a renewed sense
of hope that we’ll do so much better in the next one hundred years.
So as I try to remember the daunting
challenge I had to face on October l0, 2002, I am truly heartened by the
thought that what got me through an earthshaking personal experience was our
own town’s capacity to face its own challenges and move forward.
Given our cheerful spontaneity, we may
not always contain our own chaos. But then again, I totally believe that our
town can shake this earth and still put the pieces together with a can-do
spirit that summons simply the best from deep within ourselves.
Take care,
Gloria T. Caoile
Springfield, Va.
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