Guest Blogger: Leigh Brock
It’s all about giving…
As I think back on Little Pink: Oak Island Edition, I think that’s what makes it all work.
A Little Pink retreat is what the world would look like if everyone put others before themselves. It’s like a Little Pink bubble where you can escape the world for a week. No work, school, treatments, cooking, cleaning… none of the things that take up our lives and keep us from spending all of our time with the ones we love.
I got to be a Volunstar and my Little Pink family was there because Allison wanted to give her husband Clint a thank you gift. It was a thanks for all the things he has done for her during her cancer battle. I heard that from a lot of the wives. They can’t necessarily give their family a vacation. Cancer is expensive. They HOPE they don’t need to return the favor as caregiver. What they can do is apply for a free retreat!
Donors let us borrow their houses for a week.
Church groups made meals… and then came to serve them… and then cleaned up afterward.
Churches and recreation centers donated space for us to meet. Where would we have eaten our meals? Where would we have taken shelter when there was a thunderstorm close to the beach? Where would we have entertained the kids so the parents could have date night?
North Carolina gave our out-of-state families the gift of pimento cheese, sweet tea and banana pudding… and the right to use the word Y’all whenever they want.
My roommates gave me the chance to sleep on the top bunk!
People from all over the country sent our families beach towels and pink hair dye… 31 bags and pocket shawls (commonly mistaken for potholders to the untrained eye – but they were prayed over, so we’ll take them!).
A 9 year old heard her mom start to cry and immediately went over to give her a hug and stroke her hair.
A super-cute two year old gave all of us hugs. He would hug every volunteer wearing a Little Pink t-shirt. He knew we loved him and we were there to make his week a good one. (Is that what he was really thinking? I’ll never know… but that’s how I choose to remember it!)
The Little Pink bubble did finally pop on Friday night when we hugged each other good-bye. I think we all stored away enough good memories and pictures so that we can “go to Carolina in our mind” whenever we want. We can also go to Facebook and keep up with our new friends – because Little Pink friends are friends for life.
