Monday, December 14, 2009

Wonderful Colleagues

As I kind of hinted at in my last post, I was going to tell about "Knights Fighting Cancer".

Below is a photograph I took of a picture that hangs front and center in our family room. Across the bottom it says "Knights Fighting Cancer". In the picture is the Staff at Katella High School, the place where I work. On the matt of the picture are the signatures of those wonderful people at Katella High School.

They all took the time from a staff meeting to do this for me. I can't imagine what it was like to organize over 100 people and get them all up there on time and in some assemblance of order and then all look at the camera at the same time. Aren't they BEAUTIFUL? Then to get them all to individually come in and sign the matt at well. It is so nicely and professionally framed, as you can see, and the little purple ribbon adds a touch of class.

It radiates warmth and love everytime I pass it. It also makes me smile, no matter how difficult that particular day might be.

And speaking of purple. . . . .
After a bit of research by a staff member, it was learned that my particular cancer is symbolized by the color purple. Armed with this infomation, a small movement began. Staff members were asked to wear purple on Wednesdays as a show of support for me or for anyone else that they knew of that was also fighting a battle with cancer. I had no knowledge of this request or of anything else that was going on. I was still working on the first Wednesday this was to happen. I arrived at work and noticed that there was a lot of purple walking around, especially among staff members. I idly wondered about it from time to time but dismissed it just as quickly, too, as mine is a busy office without much time to idly wonder about things. It wasn't until later in the day that I was told what it was all about. I absolutely came apart. Everytime I saw a staff member after that I had to deal with tears of love and gratitude. Then I learned that black tee shirts with purple ribbons printed on them, along with purple bracelets, had been ordered and staff could buy them. If you could see more detail in the picture, you would see that most people are wearing their tee shirts.

The students were talked to in class about cancer and the battle that it was and they too were asked to wear purple if they knew someone who was dealing with it. There was a sweet young girl who put together dozens and dozens of purple ribbons to pass out, just in case anyone had forgotten. I also received a purple IPod with music already on it. It's kind of known that I'm not much of a techie so everything was taken care of for me.

I have received cards in addition, both from people at Katella and people with my job at other schools in the district. They have all truly helped so much.

Aren't I lucky to work with such a wonderful group of people?

GO KNIGHTS!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Faye,
I was out the days the photo were taken and the matte signed, but please know that I think of you nonetheless. I wish you a speedy recovery so you can enjoy a very merry Christmas and come back to work soon.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Sell

Sra Guzmán said...

Faye,
I was at my "other" school the day all of this happened. I was thrilled when Joan gave us your blog link so that I could let you know that you are in my prayers. May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We sure miss you here at Katella and look forward to your return.
Sincerely,
Deanna Guzman :)

Tracy said...

I LOVE everyone at Katella. This is so touching and so amazing! A heart-felt thank you to everyone involved, and all the staff from Faye's daughter who is too far away to hug her. Thank you for giving and showing her the love that I wish I could.

I love you mom!

Beth said...

Here come the tears again . . . absolutely wonderful.

Wendi said...

Well, Faye, you may not know this, but you have been on the top of my "Whom I admire most" list from the first time I met you. You are inspiring to say the least and a pure heart of grace. I have been keeping in touch through the blog, but at this time of year, I just couldn't go without leaving you a note to say how much I truly admire you and will be eternally grateful for having known you. I still have and wear my Christmas vest that you made for me almost 10 years ago. Now that I'm teaching pretty regular as a substitute, I actually have a place to wear it and show it off. Thank you for being who you are. I'm gonna start to cry, so I'm gonna go now.
Love, Wendi Tesimale