Just One Person Trying to Make a Difference

 Can one person really make a difference and have an impact?  Let me share a little story with you:

On September 23 - the day before the After Breast Cancer Pink Diamond Gala - my Dad, his wife Nancy, hubby Dave and I ventured out to a local lavender shop.  I was wanting to get some lavender essential oil for our Great Dane, Jinger (apparently it can help dogs manage anxiety - who knew!).  It was getting near closing time, and we were the only customers in the shop.  After looking around and finding a few things that I simply couldn’t live without, I gathered my items at the cash desk.  A lovely salesclerk (let’s call her Anne) started wrapping up my items.  Dave wandered over and spotted a community Art Crawl brochure that was displayed at the cash desk and said that I should think about doing something like that next year.  Anne looked up and asked me what my “art” was.  I told her about my quilting and knitting, and she asked me where I sell my products.  I pulled out my phone and showed Anne my Etsy sites.  She was genuinely interested and said “Wow – I’ve just met somebody famous!”.  I laughed and said, “I am not famous but thank you for the compliment”.  Anne finished ringing up my sale and I paid, expecting to leave the store and head over to the pub for dinner with Dad and Nancy.  But then Dave piped up: “Actually, she’s a calendar girl!”.  Here is the conversation ensued:

Bearing in mind that Dave has the gift of the gab, he said, “Pam is a breast cancer survivor.  After she was diagnosed two years ago, she knit pink ribbon cup cozies and sold them as a fundraiser for the Juravinski Cancer Centre where she was being treated.  She made 170 cozies and donated over $1,500 to the JCC.  As a result of that, Pam’s employer granted her a Volunteer Recognition Award in the amount of $5,000 which she directed to the JCC.  When the JCC received the award, they reached out to Pam and her story was used as the JCC’s holiday mail-out fundraising campaign last year.  That campaign brought in $700,000 in donations.  From there, she applied to be an Ambassador with After Breast Cancer, who provide mastectomy supplies to women who cannot afford them.  She was interviewed and selected as one of 12 women to be featured in ABC’s fundraising calendar, which will be unveiled tomorrow at the Pink Diamond Gala”. 

All I could do is stand there dumbfounded and stare at my husband.  He got every detail right, and I could hear the pride in his voice.  If he had of worn a button-down shirt, all of the buttons would have popped right off just like in those old Loony Tunes cartoons.  By the time Dave finished speaking, Anne had tears in her eyes, and profoundly thanked us, not just for sharing my story but also for everything that happened to bring us to this point on the eve of the Gala. I was barely able to keep myself together as we walked out of the store, and could only think to myself, “Wow. What just happened?” 

I have no idea if Anne’s mother, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, friends or even herself has had their life touched by breast cancer but I know that the odds are that it has.  I also know that my story had an impact on her. 

A well-known quote says, “If your path forces you to walk through Hell, walk as if you own the place”.  I live by that rule everyday because my story may help someone else on their journey.  And maybe just a little bit of good can come from something so bad.  So, yes – one person really can make a difference and have an impact, and it can come from the smallest of gestures.

P.S. The essential oil does seem to help Jinger with some of her anxiousness.  Plus it makes her smell great!