Bethany Buchanan
2022 Participant/Breast Cancer Survivor
St. John, USVI

How do you explain the impact of 6 days in paradise, surrounded by participants who REALLY understand you, who you immediately click with, who you spend most of your waking hours with, who make you laugh, who you can be real with, who you can cry with, who you don’t want to say goodbye to at the end? How do you describe a program that caters to your every need, whose entire mission is for you to enjoy yourself and create memories with your partner? We were blown away by the generosity. The fancy boats and activities that we did every day were things we would never have done in real life. They would have been out of our budget or too difficult to organize. We felt like VIP’s. I have NEVER been treated this way in my life, and I don’t know how to thank anyone/everyone enough. The quality of the experience, the generosity of the donors and the volunteers – how do we ever pay that back? My husband came back with a huge smile on his face and was more relaxed than I’ve seen him in years. We laughed so hard and just tried to take it all in. Anytime I think back on our trip, my eyes well up with tears because I can almost feel the turquoise water and that powdery white sand. This is the stuff dreams are made of, and even during treatment, when I’m in the chemo chair, I can tap into those memories. We shared the professional photos with our family, and my dad just started to cry. I feel honored and fortunate to have been selected. I know there were hundreds of other couples who would have been just as blown away as we were. The positive impact is lasting. This memory is one of our very best, and Nick and I will share it forever. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It still almost doesn’t feel real. It was too perfect.