Posts
So, it looks like there has been a resolution to the uproar about where to exhibit the moving photos of a woman dying of breast cancer. The Cleveland gallery has agreed to exhibit them.
I, for one, am very glad they found a more appropriate home, and I would encourage and hope that everybody go see these powerful and emotional photos. As you look at them, think of women, like me, who are undergoing the same things that Jen went through and know that she represents thousands of us across the country.
Also, I'll be on blogtalkradio in one hour. The topic will be a more fun one - the crazy things people say to us with breast cancer - and what should they say?
.
A Decade
3 years ago
I just read Gayle's blog and am thrilled to learn from yours that the Cleveland gallery will now exhibit these photos. These compelling shots should NEVER be considered controversial.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will be a hit on your radio show. The topic you're addressing is one I like to give to audiences in my area. It's critical to get out the message, especially from someone like you facing extra challenges that those of us with earlier-stage cancer can't even imagine.
Thank you for this post! xxx
DAMN it, ANN!!!! I have a freakin 5:30 standing THERAPY appointment and once again, I am going to miss what I KNOW is going to be a fabulous fabulous FABULOUS show!
ReplyDeleteI just got a comment on a blog of mine. Because I have zero tolerance for BS, I got pissed off about some woman having a "bikini parade" for breast cancer awareness. She is donating the money to some snake oil guy who is touting SUNLIGHT as the cure all (or one of them, I'm not being very fair but I'm so damn pissed off right now).
I just read through the comments and some woman who knows the promoter of this event said I need to stop being hateful when "being greater than me gave me my life" ... or something... UMMMM NO.... the DOCTORS gave me my mortal life.....
You have a great show, today and I think I'm going on a therapy vacation for the next two Mondays so I should be able to join you.....
THANK you for being so kind about the photo exhibit and encouraging people in Cleveland to go see it. I most certainly can understand where you are coming from..... when you go someplace to be comforted, I can't imagine it would be terribly comforting to have such poignant and powerful photos in your face. You are a class act all the way, my friend.
Here's for a good show.... You can add some of the great things I had shared with me on my blog.... my voice in absentia:
"You didn't pray hard enough"
"You got the good cancer"
"You got mild chemo" (never lost my hair by apparently my brain disappearing and still gone after five years is okay since my hair stayed in tact)
Here's the link to the blog post about dumb things and now in looking at it again, it was prompted by YOU.... you can see it in the 2nd or 3rd paragraph!
xoxox
UGH...forgot the link.....
ReplyDeleteblog is from May 31st and this other fight is from July 16th...
http://chemo-brain.blogspot.com/2012/05/writing-challenge-am-style.html
AnneMarie, thanks! I used your ideas, and thank goodness you sent them to me as I was out of things to say with ten minutes left. I read your posts and all I can say is they are awesome and you are the best!
ReplyDeleteI'm beyond thrilled that a new home has been found for this important exhibit, it doesn't absolve senior executives of The Gathering Place from making not just one -- but a series of very bad decisions.
ReplyDeleteHow an organization could be so grossly out of touch with the community it serves is absolutely unconscionable and THAT issue deserves further scrutiny. Perhaps the Board of Directors needs to reconsider the qualifications of the people who were involved in the decisions that led to this fiasco.
(For the record, I'm a survivor and I don't think a cancer support or treatment center was the appropriate venue for these images -- but I do feel they represent a platform for the metastatic community that should and must be heard).
Not unlike the recent Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle, senior executives of The Gathering Place independently made a decision that touched a nerve with survivors and non-survivors alike. The fact that they did not consider the effect such powerful images would have on the cancer community they serve is simply mind-boggling. That they also never considered the potential public backlash of their decision and/or have a crisis communication plan in place to address what quickly became a viral controversy speaks for itself -- and not ironically, is consistent with their flawed decision making process -- and equally as baffling.
I'm sorry, but just because the story has a happy ending doesn't make it okay to sweep what happened under the pink carpet. It doesn't make up for the angst that Mr. Merendino was subjected to by such a flawed decision making process. I would be inclined to support an organization that displayed more compassion towards someone who is still grieving the loss of his wife and made some kind of attempt to right the situation they created.