Hey...Hope!

A Hope Cautionary Tale

      Hope!  That's the word-hope, which is why I'm blogging. How did I arrived here?  A few years back, I, with the Seraphim Dancers, had performed a Dance of Hope at the Breast Cancer "kick-off" banquet held at the Mayo Clinic.  Footage of our ballet movements was collected and and edited for Fred Silverman's documentary, "Living with Cancer:  A Message of Hope", narrated by Ms. Anne Bancroft which aired on PBS television nationwide.  As a participant in the film, I was among honored guests at its showing at the banquet.
     The showing of the film ended.  Applause and congratulations for all participants in the film flowed generously as we moved into the reception hall to mingle among medical dignitaries and entertainment celebrities.
     Alas, much of our Dance of Hope had fallen to the cutting room floor.  I had appeared on the screen about three seconds.
     Three seconds?  Not exactly what I expected of my television debut.  But, not always are expectations met.  Neither were they always met in my medical lock-in classroom where techniques included stress management, relaxation and decision-making strategies.  Sometimes only three seconds for saying, "No" to drugs, alcohol, and abuse for children ages five to twelve.
     These children in the child psychiatry center, entered and re-entered time and again due to medical, biological and societal circumstances.  But in split seconds, one word from their psychiatrist, one caring gesture from their staff, one family response, or one lesson had become the "magic" moment that told the child someone cared.
     The Silverman/Bancroft presentation had enlightened and fired me up.  It struck me that my children's mental situations, caused by a "cancer" of society, often paralleled those of cancer survivors.
     Hey, that's it!  I'm selling hope to mothers, dads, guardians, teachers, librarians, social workers, disability instructors, and any outsiders whom called my children the "Kids from hell".  I'll take my seconds of fame and use it for them .
     Blog on!