Kisses for Cancer

On August 17, 2013, the 1st Annual Kisses for Cancer Gala was amazing.  Held in the Cellar room of New York’s Pranna Lounge, the warm décor fit perfectly with the solemn moments planned for the night.  Gold curtains and tea light candles lined the tables additionally adorned with the reading materials provided by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  Every table represented the following cancers: leukemia, prostate, colon, breast, myeloma, lymphoma, kidney, lung, bone, pancreatic, stomach and childhood. Decorated with candies of that particular color and notecards with the names of victims and statistics associated with that illness, every table had a purpose to educate and honor.  The drink menu also corresponded by color.

Also, wrapped in tiny scrolls were the previews to my first novel, appropriately revealing the chapter describing from the main character’s perspective on what it was like to live with cancer.

At these tables, ladies sat in their highest heels.  Their shimmering dresses were the perfect complements to their handsome dates.  Wall to wall, there were beautiful people – longtime friends reuniting, aunts and uncles chit chatting in the corners, sporadic flashes from the cameras and the DJ playing crowd favorites. Dj AlterEgo, who's only eighteen years old navigated the emotional celebration with classic R&B songs from the 90s from artists like 112 and then new hits from Beyonce.  His older brother, O'Shane the MC even created a special moment to introduce the song "Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross which is one of my father's favorite songs.  Tearfully, I danced the in the arms of my godfather instead, to which he promised that he would do the same one day at my wedding.

Ironically, held on the same day as my father's passing, Kisses for Cancer was filled with true sentiment and sincerity.  Our guest speaker was a friend and college classmate of mine, Andrew Prince of Temple University, who revealed his own battle with a rare childhood cancer, which he was diagnosed with at 22 years old.  In a room full of his own peers, the startling admission brought everyone to tears.  It revealed that although, most of us are in our twenties, that feeling of being invincible is simply just a feeling.  By no means is anyone invincible, no matter how times, we escape the growing statistics of cancer.

In addition, we honored two mothers, Joy who recently lost her little girl Jada and Nadine, whose child is still fighting.  Briana, being the little fighter she is, was also in attendance but unfortunately was too sick to stay for the duration of the entire event.  Cancer was definitely in the room with almost 200 people.  The atmosphere was overflowing with a need for healing and comfort.  The guests were asked to raise their hand if they've ever encountered cancer and every single person's fingers reached toward the sky.  It was a sad and necessary reminder that there was work that needed to be done.  We also honored the names of people living and deceased that were sent to us by our guests and donators.  That same week, my college roommate and friend of thirteen years, Stacy McDonald lost her battle with liver cancer.  She too was among the name of angels.  

Nearly 200 guests watched in awe as singer, Carvens Lissaint serenaded them with the famous Sam Cooke song, A Change is Gonna Come.  His voice brought chills down the spine of everyone, as it was eerily reminiscent of our purpose and intention.  We were working toward change and we remained hopeful that with our efforts, a change is indeed coming. We danced, cried, spoke and clamored over handmade goodie bags well into the night.  Our female guests tried on different color lipsticks from the Lip Bar, courtesy of Melissa Butler and kissed canvases to signify the cancer they were affected by. Our guests came from all over the east coast came to support, our farthest visitors flying in from North Carolina and Florida.

Shane Lloyd, Bianca Singleton, Malisa Amado, Me & David Holliday

Everyone enjoyed multi-colored cupcakes and cake pops donated by two wonderful bakers - Jenn and Diana respectively.  These adorable pins in the shape of lips were donated by Kristin Logan and they too were in the different colors associated with cancer. Our artwork was photographed and designed by Shane Lloyd and David Holliday.  Their artistry will forever be linked to a cause bigger than we can even imagine.  Shane also photographed the event and David designed the cover for my first novel, She's Your Daughter Too, which was also inspired by my father's battle.  All in all, with well wishes and smiles, Kisses for Cancer was a success.  It did everything it was intended to do and then some.  Easily, it was one of the best nights of my life.  Though, the motivation for the event was sadly inspired by the death of my father, it was the first time in an entire year, I found purpose with my life, the one that was left behind to still be lived.