( 11/22/2007 wh )

Buy the new Breast Cancer Stamps from the US Post Office

*************************************************************************************************

Click here for Two Step Tidewater Sunday Dance News   Quick Navigation - Use This Drop-Down Menu to Select a page This week's Two Step Tidewater Virginia dance ......Directions to the dance studio Dancing this week around Southeastern Virginia ....Long-Range Planning - Future Dance Events Here and Around The Nation Dance tips Download This Month's Free Lesson and Dance Events Flyer Free Clip Art Links and other places to dance - Local, Virginia, National ....Quick Links Page ....Community Dance Events from Virginia Beach to Richmond Post your business card - for our dancing friends ...Find a job / Post a job opening - for our dancing friends View or submit photos for our dance club photo album Search Two Step Tidewater Site ....Find a page in the site using the site index ....Other Dance Clubs, and Dance Organizations ......USA Dance (USABDA) South-East Virginia Home Pages ......USA Dance (USABDA) Peninsula (Newport News VA and Hampton VA) ......USA Dance (USABDA) Williamsburg and James City Virginia ......Tidewater Swing Dance Club (TSDC) ......Perry and Jenny Neal (Two-Left-Feet) Professional Dancers ......Country Bootlegger Dance Studio ......Roberto's Week - Intenational Entertainer Latin and American Dance Music ......Sam and Denise Miller, Professional C&W Trainers and Competitors ......Singles Dances around Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton ......Dancer's Supplies, Dance Shoes, Dance Gowns and other stuff Return to Two Step Tidewater Virginia Home Page

WWW Two Step Tidewater Virginia

*************************************************************************************************

Will the Beat Go On?  Heart-healthy dance tips.  Download and print this flyer, (maybe put it in a cheap frame) and ask your doctor to post it in several locations about their waiting rooms (Doctors ALWAYS have several waiting rooms) Click here to download the flyer.

Please read the following story and follow the instructions at the end!  Thank You .

For those of you who are cancer survivors, we offer our sincerest support and best wishes for a healthy life free of cancer.

Like most elementary schools, it was typical to have a parade of students in and out of the health clinic throughout the day. We dispensed ice for bumps and bruises, Band-Aids for cuts, and liberal doses of sympathy and hugs. As principal, my office was right next door to the clinic, so I often dropped in to lend a hand and help out with the hugs. I knew that for some kids, mine might be the only one they got all day.

One morning I was putting a Band-Aid on a little girl's scraped knee. Her blonde hair was matted, and I noticed that she was shivering in her thin little sleeveless blouse. I found her a warm sweatshirt and helped her pull it on. "Thanks for taking care of me," she whispered as she climbed into my lap and snuggled up against me.

It wasn't long after that when I ran across an unfamiliar lump under my arm.

Cancer, an aggressively spreading kind, had already invaded thirteen of my lymph nodes. I pondered whether or not to tell the students about my diagnosis. The word breast seemed so hard to say out loud to them, and the word cancer seemed so frightening.

When it became evident that the children were going to find out one way or another, either the straight scoop from me or possibly a garbled version from someone else, I decided to tell them myself. It wasn't easy to get the words out, but the empathy and concern I saw in their faces as I explained it to them told me I had made the right decision. When I gave them a chance to ask questions, they mostly wanted to know how they could help. I told them that what I would like best would be their letters, pictures and prayers.

I stood by the gym door as the children solemnly filed out. My little blonde friend darted out of line and threw herself into my arms. Then she stepped back to look up into my face.

"Don't be afraid, Dr. Perry,"  she said earnestly, "I know you'll be back because now it's our turn to take care of you."

No one could have ever done a better job. The kids sent me off to my first chemotherapy session with a hilarious book of nausea remedies that they had written. A video of every class in the school singing get-well songs accompanied me to the next chemotherapy appointment. By the third visit, the nurses were waiting at the door to find out what I would bring next. It was a delicate music box that played "I Will Always Love You."

Even when I went into isolation at the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, the letters and pictures kept coming until they covered every wall of my room

Then the kids traced their hands onto colored paper, cut them out and glued them together to make a freestanding rainbow of helping hands. "I feel like I've stepped into Disneyland every time I walk into this room," my doctor laughed. That was even before the six-foot apple blossom tree arrived adorned with messages written on paper apples from the students and teachers. What healing comfort I found in being surrounded by these tokens of their caring.

At long last I was well enough to return to work. As I headed up the road to the school, I was suddenly overcome by doubts. What if the kids have forgotten all about me? I wondered, What if they don't want a skinny bald principal? What if . I caught sight of the school marquee as I rounded the bend. "Welcome Back, Dr. Perry," it read. As I drew closer, everywhere I looked were pink ribbons - ribbons in the windows, tied on the doorknobs, even up in the trees. The children and staff wore pink ribbons, too.

My blonde buddy was first in line to greet me. "You're back, Dr. Perry, you're back!" she called. "See, I told you we'd take care of you!"

As I hugged her tight, in the back of my mind I faintly heard my music box playing . . . "I will always love you."
-------------------------------
We need those of you who are great at forwarding on information with your e-mail network. Please read and pass this on. It would be wonderful if 2005 were the year a cure for breast cancer was found!!!!

This is one email you should be glad to pass on. The notion that we could raise $35 million by buying a book of stamps is powerful! As you may be aware, the US Postal Service recently released its new "Fund the Cure" stamp to help fund breast cancer research. The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler of  Bethesda, Maryland. It is important that we take a stand against this disease that affects so many of our Mothers, Sisters and Friends.

Instead of the normal 37 cents for a stamp, this one costs 40 cents The additional 3 cents will go to breast cancer research. A "normal" book costs $7.40. This one is only $8.00. It takes a few minutes in line at the Post Office and means so much. If all stamps are sold, it will raise an additional $35,000,000 for this vital research. Just as important as the money is our support. What a statement it would make if the stamp outsold the lottery this week. What a statement it would make that we care.

I urge you to do two things TODAY:

1. Go out and purchase some of these stamps.
2. E-mail your friends to do the same.

Many of us know women and their families whose lives are turned upside-down by breast cancer.

It takes so little to do so much in this drive.
We can all afford the $0.60. Please help & pass it on

--------------------------------------------------

Breast Cancer Research Stamp
The Breast Cancer Research semipostal was issued on July 29, 1998, at a first day ceremony held in the White House. It was the first semipostal in U.S. history.

To date, the stamp has raised more than $37 million for breast cancer research. By law, 70 percent of the net amount raised is given to the National Institutes of Health and 30 percent is given to the Medical Research Program at the Department of Defense.

Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, the stamp features the phrases, "Fund the Fight" and "Find a Cure" and an illustration of a mythical "goddess of the hunt" by Whitney Sherman of Baltimore.

The U.S. Postal Service currently has these 45-cent fundraising or "semipostal" stamps available for purchase at Post Offices, online at The Postal Store, and by toll-free phone order at 1 800 STAMP-24. ($1 extra for shipping.)
****************************************
Remember, support the good dance venues! Clean, well run clubs, Studios, Competitions, USABDA and any other decent dance place need support to continue. Check our web site and our long range planning information today. We offer a listing of places for couples to dance. If you know of others,  Mail it to us:  

******************************************************************

Any other ideas???   Mail it to us:     ( Walter & Judy Schultz or Will Harper) 

Go To: [Two Step Tidewater Home] [This Week At Two Step Tidewater Virginia] [Future Dance Events] [Dance Tips Menu]  [C&W Dance FAQs] [Dance & C&W Clip Art] [Dancers Supplies and other dancing stuff]  [Links and other places to dance] [Dancing friends personal home pages] [Country Bootlegger studio] [Tidewater Swing Dance Club (TSDC)] [USABDA-Peninsula dancing club] [Two Left Feet Professional Dancers] [Sam & Denise Miller, Professional Dancers] [Roberto's week] [Singles at Two Step Tidewater] [Dancing, Fitness and Health] [Dance lessons and other activities promoted by local community recreation centers, "Y," and etc] [Line Dance On Line Newsletter] [Interstate Directions to Two Step Tidewater] [Report Web Site Problems]