The internet commuity is second to none. It's brought people together in ways we never thought possible. My friend "Pie" is a active member of a Question and Answer board on E-bay. When she became ill they rallied round as her personal support group. Cards, cakes, flowers, stuffed animals, phone calls and visits are pouring in - all from people who have known her for years but have never meet her in person.
Last night, with the assistance of some local members her yard was flocked- 30 plastic Flamingos, all adorned with the names of the donors arrived - complete with giant greeting card.
30 plastic pink Flamingos - $150. 1 heart full of joy - Priceless.
Pink Flamingo Kind of Love - Howard Rebecca Lynn c2002
Life is great without the clutter
Pass the apple butter
I can't believe this heat
Ain't it simple,ain't it clever
How good we go together
Like june bugs on a string
If our yard was an ocean
And we were sitting' in our lawn chairs
I wouldn't feel any more emotion
Then I do now,
all I want's a
Sprinkler on the garden hose and
Aim it at the patio
Iced tea,you and me
Pink flamingo (kind of love)
Let the clothesline be our fortress
Gas up the tiki torches
Sun up,sun down,
big dreams,small town
Pink flamingo kind of love
Pink Flamingo Kind of Love - Howard Rebecca Lynn c2002
4 comments:
I'm so sorry about your dear friend.
Wow! I didn't know those flamingoes only cost $5 apiece! Walmart, here I come! :)
Seriously though, that is a wonderful story. It says more to me about the internet community than any of the "online dating leads to true love" anecdotes.
There's no doubt that the internet is being used by evil people to do evil things, but the very freedom of cyberspace that allows their anonymity also allows people to do grandly heartwarming things. In the end, love wins against hate, and this is just another wonderful indication of that. Peace to you, your friend Pie, and all the wonderful eBay folks who conspired to make her last days full of love.
It is my yard that has been flocked with the flamingos. I live in a reasonably eccentric neighborhood, and have been a reasonably eccentric neighbor here for fifteen years.
I cannot begin to tell you how much joy the flamingos have brought, from the day they first appeared in my yard:
http://members.sparedollar.com/bubalabear/flocked_1.JPG
to the present.
In May of this year I suffered a pathologic break to my left arm. In short order, I was diagnosed with two primary cancers (lung and breast), with bone metastases. I later suffered a pathological fracture to the left kneecap and recently fell and fractured my left elbow.
Maryland.
Cost of a plastic flamingo: immaterial. Value of these flamingos as a gesture of friendship: immeasurable.
I had some fairly extensive surgery on the left arm and a course of radiation to the arm and leg; I later had a course of radiation to a cervical spine tumor that has drastically limited the use of my right hand.
However, after three months of being shuttled off to invasive tests and being lost in mazes of bureaucracy, the fine doctors at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center admitted that the primary cancers are beyond any treatment and I was transferred to home hospice care.
Rather than thinking of this as being sent home to die, I choose to consider it an opportunity to enjoy the remaining days of my life, whether they be days, weeks or months.
With a tremendous amount of help from Guusje and what seems to be hundreds of internet friends ... my family, my neighbors and incredibly wonderful local friends ... and the agency providing hospice care, and especially the agency that provides me with a live-in assistant (since I cannot care for myself independently any longer), I am blessed beyond wildest expectations.
The flamingos remain in my yard and will stay there as long as I live. I consider my front porch to be another room in my house and I spend a lot of time out there. My street is only one block long and has as much bicycle and foot traffic as it does cars. It's easy to direct deliveries to my house -- just tell 'em it's the house with the flamingos! people stop and talk to me about the flamingos, and a dear friend has offered the flamingos a permanent home on a beautiful island in
Post a Comment