Ever meet someone that is just a pure inspiration? In the face of adversity, and in this case, cancer, their grace and courage simply amaze you.
Taylor has gone to our church for several years and has 3 precious daughters. She's in the mom's group/Bible study with me. She was diagnosed with colon cancer back in 2011 and after surgery, chemo and radiation, it came back in December of 2012. I'll never forget sitting in the parking lot after dropping Trace off at school, reading her email telling us her cancer was back. I just sat there and cried for her. She had just turned 35.
3 weeks ago, she had her entire colon removed and is now cancer free! She will forever live with the scars and reality of what cancer took from her, but she is LIVING... and doing it with such faith!!
Our mom's group decided that for the upcoming Rump Run (which was yesterday) we'd all get a blue extension put in our hair (just like Taylor and her girls did the week before her surgery.) We wanted to show Taylor our support and love as well as raise awareness for colon cancer research.
You can imagine the strange looks and questions I've gotten this week, as a 37-year-old, mother of 2, walking around with a blue streak in my hair. But it's been SO worth it!
Her hairdresser, Justine, came to church last Monday morning and instead of our regular Bible study, we all got our "do" along with several of the little girls...
Justine and her boss generously donated the extensions and their time and the plan was to send the money to the Colon Cancer foundation in Taylor's name. When Justine got home, her husband suggested they donate that money directly to Taylor and her family to help with medical bills and expenses. Justine was going to surprise her with a Visa gift card for almost $200. I loved that they had hearts big enough to do that for her!
We all gathered in the sanctuary and took this picture, which we later put on FB and tagged Taylor in.
It said...
"There's No Junk in Our Trunk, but there's blue in our hair. We love you Taylor Sullivan! You're the strongest mom we know."
She was so surprised, and so touched! It was just a small way of showing her how amazed we are of her fight everyday! This is part of team, "No Junk In Our Trunk."
The next day, one of my friends in Trace's class asked me to work for her. She helps out every Tuesday morning and couldn't be there. Trace was singing in chapel, so it worked out perfectly!
Ironically, Mrs. Watts was giving the chapel talk that morning and it was about Super Heroes. She did an amazing job and I've never heard that spin on the subject before. She talked about how God gives them special powers and protects them with his Shield. How He uses them for good, against evil.
When they got back to the classroom, they were going over what they had learned in chapel. Mrs. Brower (the assistant) pointed out that Lauren's brother Thomas is a real life Super Hero. He's had more facial surgeries than I can count, and has the most optimistic attitude! She said Christian's brother, Keegan, was another Super Hero. He's a patient at St. Jude and has had tremendous struggles, yet, God uses his story to reach others.
I thought, OK Heidi, this is your chance...you don't have this blue streak in your hair for fashion. So I told them I knew a real life Super Hero too. I told them Taylor's story and how she uses God's shield and her faith to fight cancer.
Yesterday was the Rump Run at Enterprise South. We had the largest team of 81!!
Trace had a ball! He high fived as many runners coming across the finish line as possible. We laughed because he kept yelling out these random numbers, like he was announcing their places in the race. Some of the numbers weren't very flattering to these atheletes that had been training for months to run this 5K. ha! We later realized, he was hollering out their race number on the front of their shirt, not assigning them places. Luckily most of them had headphones in. :)
Later, we walked our measly little 1 mile fun run. But it was a gorgeous morning for a stroll!!
Such a great cause...and we were honored to be a part of it! I know Taylor is going to come out of this healthier and stronger than ever. After all, she is a Super Hero!!
