Fighting Cancer With Wine...We Are Looking For Some Ideas

cancer.ca

This has been a very tough week for us here at UnfussyWine.com. You may have noticed for the past few months that our weekly volume of posts and wine reviews has gone down some compared to the Spring. Well, we have been dealing with a very private and personal situation which has unfolded over the Summer.  Chris' Mom passed away last Friday from Stage 4 Metastatic Lung Cancer at the age of 68.  We were treated so fantastically by the medical system here in Nova Scotia from the Oncology staff to the Palliative Care staff and their jobs are NOT easy.  Over the last number of weeks, we were able to spend time together as a family and to be there for her as she went to treatments right up to her passing which was peaceful and quiet and filled with love.  We could not ask for more in a situation such as this.  That said, she has left a huge hole in her family and her community and we are left to try and find ways to make sense of the loss and try to use our small piece of the Internet to not only pay tribute to her but to push forward with trying to ensure that this happens to as few people as possible.

We, however, are not the only ones in the Blogosphere who have been impacted by Cancer recently. Check out Mitch Joel's recent Blog post regarding his own personal connection to Cancer here.  To that end, we have been thinking about what wine folks like you and us can do to help raise awareness and we are in the mood for ideas.  Wine tasting events?  Sure.  But, a lot of Cancer related organizations do fund raising in that manner.  There must be something else that might be equally as interesting to oenophiles (and the public) that is a little more grand and attention grabbing.  Mainly, because we feel we need to continue to draw attention to the fact that this disease, in its many forms, takes so many everyday and it does not discriminate.  In order to honour those who are fighting this disease and those who have been taken, we feel like there must be something we can do.  Making a donation in Mom's name is great but it seems superficial.  Like fighting a forest fire with a garden hose.  We will most likely do that in the coming days but no amount of money is enough.  That said, we are not sure exactly what we might do, maybe something soon, maybe nothing for now.  The wounds are very fresh but we do know that this life altering event has ignited something in us that will not be extinguished easily.

We have all heard the stories of how wine (specifically red wine) can reduce your risk of getting certain types of Cancer....or not (depending on who you listen to).  For our sake, we hope that it does because we take our medicine everyday. :)

Finally, to all those out there who have lost someone, who are fighting the battle themselves, or who are supporting someone going through this now.....we salute you and raise a toast to you.  Keep fighting the good fight.

We love you, Mom!

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon

PS - should you feel the need to make a donation to a Cancer charity a quick Google search will find one in your country/area (though do some critical research so you know exactly where and to whom your donation is going).