Award!

I was just awarded a pretty big award from the American Cancer Society. They just recognized me for my outstanding contributions to the Look Good... Feel Better Program. So I got dressed up put on my crown and went to the Relay for Life to receive my award. I was so excited! This is what I am thinking finally all my hard work is paying off. They say a long speech about all that I have done and what I will be doing. So I feeling pretty good. Look at me. Look what I have done. I have helped all of these cancer patients. They call out Amberlee Hayman, Mrs. Mississippi will you please come receive your award. I stand up walk to the stage receive my award and take lots of pictures will all the right people with the biggest smile on my face.

I go to my seat and watch for the relay to begin. Then they start calling out special survivors and the team leaders. This is when I realize these people are the ones that should be getting the awards and then a very small very young little girl comes up to me and she had heard what the Look Good... Feel Better Program dose for women with cancer and she wanted to know if I could make her pretty like I was. It was very hard to hold back the tears because in front of me was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. At eight years old she had been battling cancer for most of her life and had more courage than three grown men and more grace and beauty than any beauty queen I had ever meet.

Just as matter of factually as she had asked me I told her we could get her fixed up. All that being said I have a new out look on life and an even bigger mission than when I started with the American Cancer Society.

The more I work with cancer patients the younger they seam to get. And there is such a thing as a Teen Look Good... Feel Better Program, but there are only seven in the whole United States. Only seven! There are not enough regular Look Good... Feel Better Programs to take care of the women much less seven for all of the young people. Lets make this a time to take care of the next generation until we find a cure for cancer. Making the Look Good... Feel Better program a thing of the past is my goal.