My Betty
Kitty Poore - Grateful Breast Friend
When asked to tell my "Betty" story at the last Breast Friends annual planning retreat, I was not sure I was ready to share the things from my heart that were still painful a short one year since she has been gone.......
How can I describe my Betty to you so that you could understand the love I received from her that I was so affected by? I guess the first thing I'd say would be no matter when I saw her she lit up the room with the most glowing smile. I could never even begin to describe it to you. The smile was personalized to everyone she gave it to, that glow effected you to your bones. The hugs you got along with that smile warmed the cockles of you heart and soul.
I met Betty in my first week of church in 1988, after the service, ( being a skeptic of the entire church scene) I figured they must have hired her to be that receiving. She was always dressed to the "T's" with the most beautiful silver white hair you can imagine. We spent the next 15 years getting to know and love each other. I grew up without a Mom and Betty filled in the gaps of love I needed from a loving female parent. She was my personal cheerleader; always with an uplifting comment or suggestion that made me feel so special. Betty's smile never faltered and neither did her spirit, her positive attitude, her personal joy of life, or her undying faith.
When I got the call after her diagnosed I knew for sure that she would beat this monster that had already robbed me of three Aunts.
When her beautiful hair began to fall out she simply smiled that "Betty smile" and had her dear friend Darryl Cason come to her home, " I'm ready for a new shorter look, bring the clippers!" Suzanne Cason handled the photo shoot.
I made a point to check in with my Betty once or twice a week, and it was on one of those days that I asked a question I always started our talks with. This time the answer would chill me to the bone. We were sitting in the living room just before bible study when I asked "How are you doing today Betty? How are you feeling?" Betty replied "You know Kitty I think for the first time in my life I've lost my joy." If you knew Betty, that statement was totally out of character.
In the next few weeks I made phone calls to everyone that I knew, who loved her and would support her. I explained to them my last conversation with Betty and asked them to find anything that had the word JOY on it and to send it to her. What happened in the next two weeks was really remarkable. Betty received JOY soap, cards, ornaments, wall hangings, candles and stuffed animals form all over Portland! This was one of my official BREAST FRIENDS acts, ( I just didn't know it.)
My next phone call to Betty went something like this..."Hi my Betty how you feeling?"
This time the answer went like this, "Well Kitty, I had lost my JOY but my friends found it for me and sent it to me in all sorts of wonderful ways, and now I know that if I ever lose it again, I just need to call my friends and they will get it back for me, thank you."
If you have a Betty in your life make the call now, give the love now, don't regret anything you can do now that will make such a difference!
In loving memory of Betty Warren
1927-2002
