I’ve gotten to experience health, travel, vacations and living the good life; it’s pretty awesome. Life has gone on during the last 2 years – we’ve celebrated weddings, births and lives passed on. With each of these benchmarks I am astonished that I got to experience yet another gift. Seven years ago I was told I could expect to live 6 more months – that I am still here is pretty remarkable. I am now ‘in my seventies’, who would have thought that was going to happen. I can attribute my longevity to an amazing medical team, an extraordinary amount of prayer by so many people, and the loving care of family and friends – especially KathyAnn. For the past 4 years we have participated in the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden Perennial Walk and Ride. Our team is called ‘Sunflower Power’ and last year we raised over $3200. This year we are going to meet and walk on Saturday, September 30 at Horn Pond, Woburn MA at 1 PM. Feel free to join us or donate. Throughout the last six years I have been involved with and supported by the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden. This cancer center is extraordinary, it offers services to cancer patients and their families that complement their medical care. The services provided are wholistic in nature, they combine spiritual, psychological and physical needs. There are support groups for cancer patients and their caregivers, music therapy, massage, reflexology, meditation, craft groups, nature walks and other services. The staff are kind and consistently passionate about their work. The setting in idyllic Harvard MA is conducive to calm, reflection and rejuvenation. It is a place that embraces hope and healing. It allows the clients to transcend the challenges of their everyday lives of medical treatment and come to a place; virtually or in person; where you can be yourself and you don’t need to explain the fears, the concerns or the hopes that you are clinging to. I have been active in a metastatic group for the past six years, it is a metastatic group whose membership changes regularly because of the passing of members. The group, none of whom would sign up for, is solid; it is bound with love and commitment to each other. We are a group that is malleable as new members come and go. Currently we are a group of ten women, two others in the group have been in the group as long as I have; we laugh, cry, grieve and celebrate together. We celebrate good test results, empathize with each other when the pain is too great, we support one another, and we hold each other dearly. My profound gratitude for the Healing Garden is the reason that I am requesting you donate to this incredible resource. We, Kathy Ann and I, have called our annual team ‘Sunflower Power’ and as the sunflower seeks light and is a symbol of hope we are certain that the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden does the same. Thank you. Alice