No One Fights Alone

by Becky Dees

There are many quotes about living in a small town. The first one that comes to mind is “The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you are doing someone else does.” This may be true to a certain extent, but I wouldn’t trade living in my small town for any amount of money in the world.

Less than 5,000 people live in Winona, Mississippi, but these are the most loving, caring, praying people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. A year ago this week, our 28-year-old son was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. On his initial admission to the hospital, our lives changed in an instant. Life as we knew it changed forevermore.

When we found out that Greg’s leukemia needed to be treated at MD Anderson in Houston, TX, fundraisers started immediately. Friends and family members did incredible acts of kindness to make sure that our needs were taken care of in every way possible. Little girls had lemonade stands. A former baseball buddy and lifelong friend rallied an iFight TeamDees bracelet sale. A cousin coordinated a coed softball tournament. A group of friends designed and sold tee shirts to bring awareness to the need to “strike out leukemia one swing at a time.”

When our initial three day trip to Houston quickly turned into an extended stay, family and friends sent us everything imaginable to make our stay more comfortable and for our focus to be on helping Greg get transplant ready without the concerns of every day needs like shampoo and deodorant to the more pressing needs of paying our bills. People sent us money, gift cards to restaurants, boxes of snacks, encouraging books to read, and so many other things. We quickly found out that we were not in this fight alone.

Members of our town sponsored a blood drive in Greg’s honor that was so successful that MS Blood Services had to come back a second day for the overflow of people still standing in the parking lot when they had to leave. They also held a Bone Marrow Registry drive to promote the importance of getting more people on the registry to save more lives. These selfless acts took less than thirty minutes each, but they were greatly needed for patients like my son who needed blood products desperately at a moment’s notice.

As our battle raged on, the entire community rallied together and hosted a tremendous benefit that raised thousands of dollars to help pay our expenses at home as well as those incurred in Texas during our five month stay. Burgers were flipped, auction items were given and bought, and our lives were touched tremendously by the generosity of so many people of Winona, MS and the surrounding areas.

The fundraisers were greatly appreciated and truly needed, but one of the most amazing ways our community supported us was through social media. We created a Facebook page, iFight TeamDees, for our friends and family to keep up with our son’s fight with leukemia. On a daily basis, we received messages, comments, pictures, and well wishes from people of all walks of life – young, old, black, white, rich, poor, private school, public school, friends, strangers – Everyone banded together to pray for our son and his healing. No division, just unity.

A common hope and desire for the health of our son made people think about life differently. Numerous people commented on the fact that the dreaded disease that Greg fought so valiantly made them realize the importance of life, the need to make memories, and to put away petty differences. People began to realize what a wonderful place Winona is to live. We love strongly, protect fiercely, and care deeply for all of the people in our community, and most of all, we don’t let anyone fight alone.

Unfortunately, after seven short months fighting leukemia, our son died. I can’t think of a person in our community that didn’t reach out to our family in some way to comfort us. We were messaged, texted, prayed for, hugged, loved, and fed by countless people. A trip to Wal-Mart would last an hour because everyone we saw hugged us, cried with us, and loved us. We quickly found out that we were not alone in our sorrow. Winona was not through loving us and supporting us yet.

In a small town everyone may know your business, but they also love you like you cannot imagine. I made the comment several times while at MD Anderson that if we had lived in a big city like Houston, TX when Greg was diagnosed with leukemia that it could be possible that all the people on our street might not know about Greg’s illness, but in Winona, EVERYONE knew about his fight with cancer and not only did they know about his illness, they prayed for him by name and for his specific daily needs. In February of this year, my daughter, her best friend, and I trained for a half marathon to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Once again, the great people of Winona supported us to no end! They prayed for our safety, sent us good luck messages, and helped us raise over $3,300 for the LLS. It is my passion to continue raising money for research to end cancer. No other mother should have to bury her 29-year-old son because of leukemia.

I feel blessed beyond measure to live in our small town. I never want anyone else to travel the road we journeyed this past year, but if they do, I hope their hometown is as supportive, loving, and caring as Winona, MS. It is the best town that I could ever hope for or imagine to live. We fight together, and we don’t give up. In Winona, MS, no one fights alone.