Traveling Hook II ...Hooking for a Cure

Squares are pictured above.
When I first signed up to participate in the "Traveling Hook II ...Hooking for a Cure" project, I was looking forward to my turn in working with the "Sonny" hook, made by our favorite craftsman, known to all, as Jimbo. I really thought that this would be a "fun" experience, but fun really wasn't the right word that decribed what I was feeling when the "Sonny" hook arrived. I guess the right word would be, humbled. When I think of all the friends and family that have experienced the living with, dealing with, and dying, as a result of the big C, it's heartbreaking. So I turn to the serious side and prayed as I worked on my squares, thinking of everyone for whom I made a square. Oh how I wish there was a miracle cure for cancer, but with this effort, a small one on my part, maybe we will see some new medical breakthroughs to cure this dreadful disease. Too many people have suffered enough and too many have lost their lives. It may not be in my life-time, but hopefully in the future, a genius of a scientist and doctor, will find a way to make cancer become, a disease of the past....to no longer be a threat or a feared illness to anyone. I myself, am in the high-risk category for cancer, but I will not let that fear rule my life.....not now.
Without further ado, let my show you my dedication of squares:
Okay, I will have to post my pictures seperately........cause I can't seem to get my pictures to come out on this post. I am so bad with computers. Me and technology just don't mix well.
My Sqaures are in the above posts. I should have posted from the bottom up. I guess there is a little oops in everyone.

A Very Humbling Experience for Me

Here is a picture of all the squares that I managed to make in the days that I had the "Magical Hook". I call it this because it truly was a magical experience for me. I need to give you a little background so you will understand better. You see, I wanted to be a part of this not only for all the special people in my life who I have lost to cancer, but also to celebrate all the lives of those in my life who have fought the battle and WON! Let me explain who my squares are for and share with you all the beautiful "Ah Ha" moment that happened to me.

This peach square on the bottom is for my dear mother-in-law, Sarah. She was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer back in 1990. It was in the early stages and caught in time that a hysterectomy saved her life and gave us many more years with her.

The 2 periwinkle squares are for two wonderful men that were in my life and lost theirs to Esophageal Cancer. The one on the left is for my "almost" brother-in-law, John. And the one on the right is for a very special friend I had who went by the name of Hop. You know how sometimes you meet someone who just "gets" you? That was Hop! He never judged me...well almost never. He always listened and just genuinely cared. He has been gone 2 years now and I miss him more than I thought I ever would.

These 2 dark blue ones represent Colon Cancer. The one on the left is for a woman I know who is battling the disease at the present time. Her name is Flo and she is one of the strongest women that I know. If anyone can beat this, she can!

The square on the right is for my Uncle Dick who wasn't able to beat this one.

These 3 pink squares stand for Breast Cancer. My cousin Judy (Uncle Dick's daughter) was diagnosed 3 years ago. She had surgery, underwent radiation, and got the all clear! Woo Hoo!

My friend Allene, also was diagnosed. Her surgery was more radical but she always stayed positive and had a smile on her face. She was even proud of her "bird" hair when it started to grow back! Now the cancer has spread to her stomach. Please keep her in your prayers.

The 3rd. one is for my friend Audrey. She beat the disease years ago and has gone on to live a wonderful life enjoying her husband and children.

And these last 3 squares are the most special to me. The orange represents Leukemia. The one with the heart is for my mother-in-law Sarah. While she beat the first cancer, she couldn't beat this one. She was my heart! I would give anything for one more day with her. She fought long and hard and I know that she is reaping her reward in Heaven now! I love you and miss you Mom!

The one next to hers is for my Aunt Lou. She was diagnosed before Sarah and she is doing well. The cancer is in remission and even tho I don't see her very often, I always enjoy the times that I do. She worked as a nurse until the age of 70!

The orange square at the top of this picture is for my Uncle Ray. He is actually my husbands Uncle, just as Aunt Lou is really my husbands Aunt. When I first met Uncle Ray and his wife, Aunt Lorraine some 23 years ago ~ they instantly became my favorite. I know we aren't supposed to have favorites but...you know sometimes you just can't help it! Uncle Ray and Aunt Lorraine were married for 63 years. Can you imagine! They were best friends and went everywhere together. They raised a beautiful, loving family and watched grandchildren grow up and have children of their own. In fact their youngest grand daughter is expecting twins in May of this year! Right around Thanksgiving Uncle Ray fell in his garage...on a ladder, if you can believe...the man was 88, and broke his hip. He had surgery and was able to go home 2 weeks before Christmas. On Christmas he went back to the hospital because he just was not feeling good and was weak as a kitten. Thru different tests the doctors diagnosed him as having end stages of leukemia. They sent Uncle Ray home to die. My husband and I did not know this when we called to see how he was doing. We certainly didn't expect this announcement of leukemia and end of his life nearing! It was at this time that Jimbo's hook appears!

As all of you probably know, the hooks' arrival at my home was delayed due to JoBug falling ill and scaring the daylights out of her entire family! This, I believe with all my heart, was part of the bigger plan. I got the hook on a Monday. You see, besides working full time as a secretary for a Construction Management Company, I also work 3 nights a week cleaning the offices where I work. Mondays and Tuesdays are 2 of those nights. Due to my schedule, we arranged to visit Uncle Ray on Wednesday. Aunt Lorraine felt it would be ok to visit as long as it was a short one. I already had made this square for Uncle Ray. In fact, it was the very first one that I made with the "Magical" hook!

I did not expect to see the Uncle Ray that I seen when we arrived on Wednesday. It was obvious that the end was very close. I sat and held his hand for a while. I silently prayed for him. I enjoyed the closeness that I was sharing with him. He managed to open his eyes and he said to me, "Debbie, I'm dying". It about broke my heart. I told him that it was ok, we all were. He fell asleep and we stayed for awhile and visited with the rest of his family that was there.

On friday morning, January 11, 2008, Uncle Ray died. He was at home. His wife of 63 years beside him. He was a shining star in my life and now I know he is a shining star in heaven! He is up there playing pinochle and patiently waiting for his beautiful bride, Lorraine.

So...to sum it all up...The hook was never LATE at arriving in my hands. It came at the exact time that it was supposed to! I love you Uncle Ray!!!

Thank you to all who have hung with my very long explanation of the squares. And a huge thank you to Angelfire for organizing this whole thing. And last, but certainly not least, a HUGE thanks to Jimbo. For it is with the Magician that the Magic lies!

kittyloverdeb

I have the HOOK!

My squares are all in PINK, and I made mine in honor of Breast Cancer, which

I am a hopeful survivor. Here are the pictures, I did them all in Circle of Friends Squares, because we are all friends!

JoBug - JoAnn Dillon in Iowa

Honored and Thrilled

Pete and Maxine, my in-laws, were two very special people to me. Because cancer touched their lives time and time again, I would like to dedicate this project to them. Pete's Mom and Dad both died of cancer. He had four brothers that have died from cancer and three living siblings. Pete's first fight with cancer was with lymphoma (lime green) and later it attacked his lungs (lgt. grey). Pete was a fighter and fought the battle for a good nine years. He went home for the last time in February 1998. Pete was a simple man, proud father of 10 and WWII Vet.



Maxine's Dad died from cancer. She lost her Mother at the early age of three to an accident. She lost both of her brothers to cancer. Maxine also lost her life to cancer in May of 1996. She hadn't been feeling well with a severe pain in her midsection. When they went in to remove her gallbladder they found very advanced pancreatic cancer (purple). She was with us 10 very precious days. Maxine knew how to cook and serve people. Her husband, 10 children, grandchildren and extended family were her life. She enjoyed watching her Soaps and she was an avid crocheter. She helped me with my first afghan. She enjoyed working with thread and built my confidence in working with #10 thread and a small hook. Maxine had patience and a sense of humor.



When I first hoped to be a part of this project, so many names and faces from the past immediately came to mind and I began planning a square for each of them. Then just within the short time that I have been waiting for Jimbo's hook we have ran into a couple of special people who are again battling cancer for the 2nd. or 3rd. time. So I'd like to take this opportunity to honor them with a square.



Jerry H, 51 yrs. young, diagnosed initially with prostate cancer (blue) but recently has been told it has moved to his bones (yellow). Jerry is still trying to work his job through the chemo. His daughter was recently married. Soon after his daughters wedding Jerry had another setback and is just finishing up 6 weeks of radiation and is looking at another round of chemo.

Jerry still remains positive and doesn't miss an opportunity to relate something funny that may have happened to him while having a treatment.

**Our dear friend, Jerry H., passed away from cancer on February 7th. God Bless him and his family.**


Patti M, 50ish, just found out her brain tumor has returned for the 3rd. time. Patti has had two operations. Both times it was benign but was told this time they won't be able to operate again because of the location of the tumor. She is taking oral chemo at this time. She is also on daily barbiturates for seizures caused from the tumors. She showed me pictures of her two children and 18 month old granddaughter. Her husband stood beside her after a long day of appnts. with 3 doctors and said "We got through the other two and we are going to beat this one also." She and her Mom have spearheaded a support group for brain tumor survivors.



As so many of you, I wish there had been time to crochet a special square for each loved one who cancer had touched but life happens and time became an issue for me so I chose two that were important to me. The teal/white for so many brave women who have had ovarian/cervical cancer. Also the yellow one for sarcoma/bone and bladder cancer.



For all of us Crochetviller's who have participated in Traveling II....Hooking For A Cure, here is a "Circle of Friends" in lavender for our "general awareness of cancer." Here I'd like to thank angelfire. Other then sending off a couple charity squares I've never been involved in a project, this is my first time posting on a blog, posting pictures on photobucket and then to add to this journal with pictures and words...well, if you see this here it will be thanks to extra help from angelfire, my DH and other viller's that are always so generous to answer share their knowledge.



And now I have a dream....to own a Jimbo hook. The one amazing thing I noticed immediately is I could crochet much much longer without having to take a break because my carpel tunnel didn't bother me. So well balanced....So sleek....So much easier to slip into the stitch. Thank you Jimbo for donating this luscious creature for Hooking For A Cure.

And yes, thrilled to be a part of this project because on May 23, 2008 I will be a 5 yr. breast cancer survivor. This lone pink square is for the many strong courageous women who have gone before me, most of whom didn't have the medical advantages that I did, the women that reached out their hands to me when I needed their encouraging support and for the women I know of now that are struggling for their lives with this disease.

~Blessings~~

KathyWho

Designers of the Squares:

Warm Jewel Granny Square - Kimberly Andrew

Lady Square Variation - Julie A. Bolduc

Circle Of Friends - Priscilla Hewitt

Starfire Square - Melanie Stiles

Cat Tracks - Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude

hook update

Hi!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I received the hook on October 15th and am planning to mail out my squares on the 22nd or 23rd. My goal is to have the hook a week and then pass it on. I lost my father to cancer a few years ago and I am happy to be taking part in this!

Elizabeth

Why the Traveling hook

Hey all. I've not received the hook yet, and hope that all is well with Jazziblu but I wanted to post why I was so eager to participate in this project. Here you go:


My first encounter with this scourge we call cancer was at a young age.
I was 17 and beginning my senior year in high school. Months before that, my father was diagnosed. It was a whirlwind for my family and within months, too few months actually, my father died on Aug. 31, 1988, what was to be the second day of my senior year in high school. What we went through was confusing, but a learning experience: the diagnosis, the illness, the end. What we went through after was amazing.
Led by the strongest woman I’ve ever met, my mother, my family made it. We survived the diagnosis, the treatment (including cobalt therapy) and the death. Because of my mom, we persevered. I remember sitting there, on my father’s hospital bed, swearing he was still breathing, and saying out loud “there’s no more reason to go on.” It was after 3 a.m. that day.
My mother, that beautifully spiritual being who put all her trust in her faith (we were Catholic) and, more specifically, the Virgin Mary, proved me wrong. There was plenty of reason to go on. She got a job after being a stay-at-home mom for DECADES and I graduated high school that year, top 10 percent of my class, and went on to college.
Then, more than 4 years in to that venture (I changed majors my fourth year), IT did it again. Cancer struck.
This time, it was my mother. I would find out later she was given only a couple months to live. Never one to prove anyone right, she proved "them" wrong and we lived a roller coaster the next two-plus years. She died Oct. 20, 1995, little more than seven years after my dad and at the same age, 65.
I am here today confident it was her strength that has carried me through. I graduated from college, attending classes while she was being treated and was at her side as much as I could be through all her treatments. 
I consider myself a success, not measured by money earned or material possessions, but because of who she taught me to be and the person I believe I am because of her.
Fastforward please to 2001: That’s when I met Margaret. 
At 72, she was a retired nurse with a remarkable past. Her daughter introduced us and there is no one more thrilled than I that that happened. 
Margaret had been diagnosed with metastasized cancer, origin unknown. 
As a journalist, with her permission, it was my job to chronicle her journey...to follow her -- to her death. My bosses and I agreed, the ethics policy was to be followed as much as possible, but there would be times that wouldn’t be possible.
Through it all, I became FAST friends with her oldest daughter who is more like me than she knows.
Margaret died on Feb. 22, 2003. Her passing left a hole, like the deaths of my own parents had.
Fastforward again please to today. That daughter, my friend, is a community representative for the American Cancer Society and she is the “Relay geek” -- Relay for Life that is.
Relay is my summer “thing," -- because of my friend, but also because I believe in it.
I Relay from May to late June like many people golf or boat. It’s a hobby. It’s my “thing.” It’s a verb, a noun. I Relay. I am a Relayer. 
Over the course of six years, I’ve watched our survivors take their first lap after opening ceremonies.
At night, I’ve watched the luminaria ceremony. I’ve participated in that luminaria walk where survivors, their caregivers and those walking “in memory of” take a lap around the track, lighted candles of hope burning brightly against the summer night sky as candles spelling hope light up the bleachers, or a hill, and a song of hope urges us on.
The last couple of Relays, I’ve watched as HOPE on the hill, or in the bleachers, became CURE. That’s what we’re all striving for and that’s why I chose to participate in the Traveling Hook II -- to hook for a cure. 
Thanks to all who have made this possible: Jimbo for the beautiful hook and Angelfire for the organizing of it and all the wonderful crocheters across the US and Canada who said yes to this venture.
Surely someday HOPE will become CURE and we will walk around that track in celebration of that CURE and in honor of everyone who came before it.

My squares

(Sorry for the delay in posting my entry... )


Each square that I made with the Jimbo hook has a special meaning to me and/or my sisters. Here are the stories behind each of the squares -

The top left square is for my little sister's best friend who has lung cancer. From what my sister told me, she had surgery to remove a tumor in her lungs in August and it was successful because they caught it early.

The bottom left square is for my grandfather on my mom's side. He started smoking when he was in his teens and didn't stop until his death due to lung cancer at 64.

The blue squares in the center column are for my grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side. My grandmother died of kidney cancer way before I was born and my grandfather died about 15 years ago due to prostate and kidney cancer.

The square at the bottom right is for one of my "su su" - that's Chinese for uncle, what we call my parents' male friends. His family moved with my family from Taiwan to the US and I can't remember a major event in my life that he has not been a part of. He has thyroid cancer and is doing rather poorly right now but he has a fighting spirit and I constantly pray that he will overcome the cancer.

Last of all is the bright blue square. This is for a friend of my two older sisters. She is petite but makes it up with her large personality, hence the very bright square. She had brain cancer and has gone through several rounds of chemo already. The cancer is in remission but my sisters say that cancer has definitely changed her as I'm sure having cancer will change anyone.

Well thank you all for letting me have the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful project. I hope you enjoyed reading about my squares and I can't wait to see everyone else's squares!