I would like to share with you a beautiful and touching note I
recieved from the Master Harpist that our foundation funds. This
gives you a great idea of one of the many ways your support helps
local children with cancer.
Hi Sharon. I'm home from the memorial service and want to share
with you how profoundly moving the event was. The staff at SCHC
attended to every detail and provided a sacred space for the families
and staff to come together in sorrow and to celebrate the children
who have passed from pediatric cancer.
There was a very moving slide show of all the children, accompanied
by beautiful music, that they showed at the beginning and towards
the end of the service. The collective pain and sadness in the
room was palpable, yet cathartic, i would hope. As dr. Gregory
halligan (the chief oncologist who has been there for 30 or so
years) said, "if there's a dry eye in here, we better go
and check to see if you have a pulse." A few staff, social
workers, nurses and oncologists, spoke beautiful words of comfort.
There were a couple of poems read of 'a time to gather' and 'of
remembering them'. The staff shared their memories and the staff
read each families' own memories of their beloved child. There
was a guitarist who played and sang a couple of songs. The first
was 'tears in heaven', which brought on a lot of crying. He was
very good. Then they read the names of all the children, as i
noodled in the background. There was a closing poem 'i carry your
heart with me', closing comments from dr. Halligan, and then the
reception.
I played my harp in the beginning, before the service started,
while the names were being read, and when the service ended, as
people were leaving the auditorium. Then I moved all my stuff
out to the beautiful atrium they have there, and played as people
talked and had refreshments. I had a little 3-year-old girl intrigued
by the harp, as she came right over to me. I ended up playing
several kid's songs for her that she danced to and enjoyed, as
her family and some others stood around and happily watched.
I am most grateful to you to have had this opportunity to be
part of such an important service. I thank you for making this
happen for me Sharon. I received some very positive comments from
staff about my harp music that it was the 'perfect' thing for
the service and brought great comfort to many there.
Warm Regards,
Cheryl
