This Holiday Season I have donated to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Doves of Hope. Over the last 10 years there have been over 55,000 Doves donated and displayed in the atrium at PMH. These Doves show patients and their families that they are not alone in their fight to conquer cancer. I know because I have been there.
This Dove is dedicated to my mom:
And this one is dedicated to my cousin, Madeleine:
Cancer has had a huge impact on my life. While you are watching a loved one fight this horrible disease your life gets stripped right down to basics. An experience like this exposes the cracks and, on the flip side, highlights exactly what matters.
I was on the front lines when my mom was sick and there were a few things that really stood out for me while we journeyed through her illness. One, not at all surprisingly, was my amazing family. We were a solid unit in every possible way, supporting each other, working together and offering love and support. But there were definitely some surprises, some people and places I would have never guessed who made a huge difference in our lives during this time.
One of these places was Princess Margaret Hospital. I would never have suspected it but this same strength and support we felt from each other was found within the walls of Princess Margaret Hospital. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But it is true. PMH is an amazing place where amazing things, both big and small, happen every day. From our early visits filled with confusion and fear and hope all the way to my mom’s stay on the Palliative Care unit we found a love and respect that was completely unexpected but so desperately important. The gentle hand of a kind nurse, the extra time for clarification from a sympathetic physician, the smile from the attendant pushing my mother’s wheelchair and the soft touch of a nurse caring for her wounds were more important than I could have ever known.
I always felt that Princess Margaret Hospital did everything it could to make families as comfortable as possible. There was a deliberateness to it all that could not be overlooked. From the people to the place I always felt that PMH knew that, at this trying time, we really needed them to be more than just a hospital.
This Holiday Season I dedicated two Doves of Hope to two amazing people who are desperately missed in the hope of offering comfort to another family but also in support of a place that made a difference in my life and I know will continue to do the same for many others. Maybe my donation will be the key to a breakthrough in cancer research funded through PMCF so that another family doesn’t have to go through what we did.
Please take the time to dedicate a Dove of Hope for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and make a difference in someone’s life when they need it most.
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This post is sponsored by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. The experiences and opinions are all my own.