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Meet Patti!
Every Monday, we feature a local mom on TriangleMom2Mom.
For the three weeks leading up to the Race for the Cure on June 14, we'll spotlight three local moms who have survived breast cancer. Read about last week's featured mom Christine here.
Today, we hear from Patti Marshall.
Mom2Mom: Tell us about yourself.
Patti: I am a single mom of two girls, Molly, 8, and Taylor 12. I am a mom first, and a lot of other
things second. I am active in my church, Macedonia Baptist Church, volunteer as an assistant troop leader for Molly’s Junior Girl Scout troop, sit on the board of my homeowners association, volunteer my time for the Susan G. Komen, NC Triangle Affiliate, am an Ambassador for the YWCA’s EncorePlus program, and spend time painting and doing woodworking.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. It turned our family upside down and inside out. But now we are getting put back together better than ever. My girls and I went through a lot of things together. From the diagnosis, through chemotherapy, through losing my hair, through numerous surgeries, through radiation, through a whole lot of healing, we have grown closer than ever.
When it came time to lose my hair, the girls shaved my head into a mohawk and dyed it all kinds of colors. Of course, it wasn’t like that long before I was completely bald. Molly would come home after school and take a lint roller and roll it on my head to remove the stubble that I was shedding. When I was looking and feeling my worst during chemo, I found myself crying while I was looking in the mirror. Taylor came to me and said, “You just look like my mom.”
We would not have gotten through it without the help and support of our friends, family and our church family. There were lots and lots of people that did things to get us through the year. From friends who did all the carpooling to friends from church raising money to complete strangers who helped and God was with us through it all.
We learned that cancer doesn’t just affect the person who has it; it affects everyone around that person as well. It seems like there is never enough time to get done all that I want to do. But over the last year, I have learned just how precious life is. The past is gone and we are not guaranteed tomorrow so we need to unwrap the gift we are given. That’s why it’s called the present!
Cancer has changed the course of my life and I am doing everything I can to follow the road to my “new normal.” The path I find myself on right now is one of advocacy and support. I want to be able to help other women who find themselves with this awful disease. I plan on speaking wherever and whenever I can whether it is to a single woman or a whole bunch of people. I plan on doing whatever I can to eradicate breast cancer for future generations.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite family place in the Triangle and why?
Patti: Dail Park at Doak Field. It is the home field of the NCSU WolfPack baseball team. It is an incredibly fun time to go and watch the games. What could be more family oriented than baseball?!?! The girls like to watch for foul balls. We haven’t caught one yet but there’s always next year. Of course the junk food tastes pretty good, too!
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite place for yourself in the Triangle and why?
Patti: At home………It is a place where I can relax, reenergize, and renew before going out to face the world.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite ritual with your kids?
Patti: We try to always eat dinner together. No matter what other things are going on, we try to make the time to sit down together and share whatever is going on with each other. Sometimes that means we eat at 4 PM and sometimes it is much later, but it is an important part of our day.
Mom2Mom: What did you eat last night? Can you share the recipe?
Patti: Macaroni and cheese………the recipe? K-R-A-F-T
Mom2Mom: Care to share your guilty pleasure?
Patti: Going to dinner at Carraba's in Cary. Anytime I get to go there and have dinner it is awesome.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
Sarah is in charge of content for TriangleMom2Mom.com and writes about family-friendly events, local moms groups and other topics for the site.
She lives in Raleigh with her
husband and three-year-old daughter. Sarah has written for newspapers
since she was a teenager living in snowy Central New York. After
graduating from the University of Virginia, she traipsed a bit around
Europe and Mount Airy, N.C., before settling down in the Triangle. She
moved here in 1999 to take a job with The News & Observer. She once aspired to play
flute professionally. More recently, her daughter started crying when
she played it.
Read more about:
Every Monday, we feature a local mom on TriangleMom2Mom.
For the three weeks leading up to the Race for the Cure on June 14, we'll spotlight three local moms who have survived breast cancer. Read about last week's featured mom Christine here.
Today, we hear from Patti Marshall.
Mom2Mom: Tell us about yourself.
Patti: I am a single mom of two girls, Molly, 8, and Taylor 12. I am a mom first, and a lot of other things second. I am active in my church, Macedonia Baptist Church, volunteer as an assistant troop leader for Molly’s Junior Girl Scout troop, sit on the board of my homeowners association, volunteer my time for the Susan G. Komen, NC Triangle Affiliate, am an Ambassador for the YWCA’s EncorePlus program, and spend time painting and doing woodworking.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. It turned our family upside down and inside out. But now we are getting put back together better than ever. My girls and I went through a lot of things together. From the diagnosis, through chemotherapy, through losing my hair, through numerous surgeries, through radiation, through a whole lot of healing, we have grown closer than ever.
When it came time to lose my hair, the girls shaved my head into a mohawk and dyed it all kinds of colors. Of course, it wasn’t like that long before I was completely bald. Molly would come home after school and take a lint roller and roll it on my head to remove the stubble that I was shedding. When I was looking and feeling my worst during chemo, I found myself crying while I was looking in the mirror. Taylor came to me and said, “You just look like my mom.”
We would not have gotten through it without the help and support of our friends, family and our church family. There were lots and lots of people that did things to get us through the year. From friends who did all the carpooling to friends from church raising money to complete strangers who helped and God was with us through it all.
We learned that cancer doesn’t just affect the person who has it; it affects everyone around that person as well. It seems like there is never enough time to get done all that I want to do. But over the last year, I have learned just how precious life is. The past is gone and we are not guaranteed tomorrow so we need to unwrap the gift we are given. That’s why it’s called the present!
Cancer has changed the course of my life and I am doing everything I can to follow the road to my “new normal.” The path I find myself on right now is one of advocacy and support. I want to be able to help other women who find themselves with this awful disease. I plan on speaking wherever and whenever I can whether it is to a single woman or a whole bunch of people. I plan on doing whatever I can to eradicate breast cancer for future generations.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite family place in the Triangle and why?
Patti: Dail Park at Doak Field. It is the home field of the NCSU WolfPack baseball team. It is an incredibly fun time to go and watch the games. What could be more family oriented than baseball?!?! The girls like to watch for foul balls. We haven’t caught one yet but there’s always next year. Of course the junk food tastes pretty good, too!
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite place for yourself in the Triangle and why?
Patti: At home………It is a place where I can relax, reenergize, and renew before going out to face the world.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite ritual with your kids?
Patti: We try to always eat dinner together. No matter what other things are going on, we try to make the time to sit down together and share whatever is going on with each other. Sometimes that means we eat at 4 PM and sometimes it is much later, but it is an important part of our day.
Mom2Mom: What did you eat last night? Can you share the recipe?
Patti: Macaroni and cheese………the recipe? K-R-A-F-T
Mom2Mom: Care to share your guilty pleasure?
Patti: Going to dinner at Carraba's in Cary. Anytime I get to go there and have dinner it is awesome.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
Sarah is in charge of content for TriangleMom2Mom.com and writes about family-friendly events, local moms groups and other topics for the site.
She lives in Raleigh with her husband and three-year-old daughter. Sarah has written for newspapers since she was a teenager living in snowy Central New York. After graduating from the University of Virginia, she traipsed a bit around Europe and Mount Airy, N.C., before settling down in the Triangle. She moved here in 1999 to take a job with The News & Observer. She once aspired to play flute professionally. More recently, her daughter started crying when she played it.
Read more about:
