Show Me

Sometimes being a disciple of Jesus involves Justin Timberlake.

At the Christ Church breast cancer survivor lunch last week, I heard a story that needs to be shared.

Emily Harry and Leesa Clardy became friends when their children were in class together at Christ Church Kindergarten. In 2015, Emily was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 42 and her twin daughters were five years old. Emily’s treatment included eighteen rounds of chemotherapy – one round every three weeks. In case you didn’t do the math, that is a full year of chemo.

Leesa, a nurse in her earlier life, asked for a schedule of Emily’s chemo days, and every time Emily headed to the infusion center for another chemo treatment, Leesa sent her a hopeful or funny text. Sometimes it was a video. Several times it was a video of their shared fave singer, Justin Timberlake. 

“Leesa’s texts and videos were always encouraging and made me laugh,” Emily said. “They helped me take my mind off what I had to do that day. Leesa was my faithful cheerleader for that whole year of chemo.”

On Emily’s last day of chemo, Leesa went to the hospital infusion center to find Emily. Leesa brought flowers, a card and gift.

Emily said “Bye, Bye, Bye” to cancer seven years ago and now makes a concerted effort to reach out to others. “Leesa, who has never had cancer, taught me how to take care of others with cancer. She is the platform I use for everything I do for others going through cancer,” Emily tells me.

As Leesa’s husband, Jim, likes to say about being a good writer, “Show me. Don’t tell me.” 

Consider yourself shown.