“I
wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t
rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end.”
– Gilda Radner
One of the joys in my life has been knowing Joan Licursi, among the longtime leaders of Gilda’s Club in New York City – an institute set up in the name of Gilda Radner to insure that no one has to face the ravages of cancer alone. Radner was born on this date in 1946 and after her death from cancer in 1989, family and friends founded Gilda’s Club, both in her memory and to help others with the disease.
The organization took its name from
Radner's comment that cancer gave her "membership to an elite club I'd
rather not belong to.” Radner's story
can be read in her inspiring, humorous and heart-wrenching book, It's Always
Something, written after her diagnosis with the illness. Gilda’s Club has become a global network
serving multi-thousands of victims and their families.
“While we have the gift of life, it
seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our
spirit, our creativity or our glorious uniqueness,” Radner once said. “Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the
best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.”
No comments:
Post a Comment