Hello again,
Things are getting busier; lot's going on in my real life and especially with Relay For Life of Second Life.
Hope you are checking the event listing and information boards around the grid, hitting those events and giving often and generously. I know I've been broke since Relay started. Even had to borrow some Lindens from a friend to cover my rent this week!! Woopsies!
I wish to introduce someone to you, he's a very dear friend of mine in real life, I've know him all my life and we've traveled the road of life together, for a very long time. He's been my best friend, big brother ever since I've known him in school, and someone I could always count on in times of need. Even thought we parted ways at times, we never lost contact with each other, and always share each other lives and interest.
Well, since I've found myself in Relay For Life of Second Life and my sharing with him my discoveries, he's grown curious about what Second Life is all about, so he's joined us in world. But not only that, he wants to help me Relay, because we share similar friends and interwoven families, we’ve been each other caregiver’s support person to almost the same survivor group of people, and so I have invited him to co-author with me on our site.
I HOPE you welcome him warmly, as he's one of those amazing people and I am so glad to have him in my real life and now Second Life, he has big shoulders, a warm heart, caring and compassionate, and there's more than enough of him to go around.
Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Bain Finch of Second Life.
Jennifer
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Greetings and thanks Jenni for those lovely words.
WoW, after several days of solid exploring this new (new to me) virtual world, I AM HOOKED. I still have the words from Aldous Huxley's sci-fi novel "Brave New World" ringing through my mind. I have ton of exploring to do, but seeing the size of this place, it could be a life long hobby.
I’ve know the typist of the avatar, that is Jennifer Curtau since we were both in high school, way back when. Right from the start we connected, and didn’t take long for both of us to realize we had a special connection to each other. We had one of those connections, that was more than friendship, more than family, and way beyond lovers and we knew how special that was.
I remember the day she heard, her dad found to have colon cancer. She could hardly talk to me over the phone. My boss was sitting across from me in the same room as I took the call and was quick to gather what was going. I hung up the phone and before I had had a chance to digest the call and he calmly said to me, “WTF are you still doing here? Get going!” I flew home, gathered a travel bag and drove the 2-1/2 drive to her parent’s home in record time. I found her there, putting on one of those “brave faces” one tend to wear, when ones find themselves as a virgin cancer caregiver, but everyone knows, you have not remotely come to terms this. We hugged, I when on to hug and talked to her parents as I knew she was slipping out, to loose it in private. Her mom knew it too. She turn to me and said “Were OK, go to her”.
We cried buckets that afternoon, and we talked, and we talked, and we cried some more. After some long moments of silence, she looked into my eyes, and calmly said, "Well I guess I gonna get an education about cancer” and that what she did. Jenni one of those people that when she sets her mind on path and focuses her effort on something, she goes after it in an almost obsessive way.
Long story made short, her dad had a picture prefect operation, an excellent treatment series, and spotless follow up. 20 years on, and he’s still clean, and still with us. But in those 20 years, since we both became indoctrinated into the family-hood of cancer caregivers, we have both lost several mutual friends to cancer, we’ve both lost cousins, aunts and uncles in our respective families and we also celebrate the victories with many more cancer survivors.
So here is Jennifer, 20 years later, doing Relay For Life of Second Life, a team member in Relay and committee member giving her all, and knowing Jenni’s typist as I do, she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s a force to be reckoned with.
Myself, I’ve always gave to the Cancer Society’s various fund drives they have, but always wondered if I could contribute in some more substantial fashion. With limited options due, to the size of this small community I live and work in, discovering, or should I say, having my dear friend discover the effort going on here in this place called Second Life, I just had to sign up and walk along side my friend of life.
I look forward in kicking this beast called cancer, senseless.
Bain Finch
