Yesterday, August 24th, would have been my brother Harlan’s 53rd birthday. It was also my friend Jenifer Anseth’s birthday, and I celebrated the occasion with an e-card, a song on her voicemail, and various Twitter and Facebook posts. Birthdays are great for many reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to torture my friends with a song.
If you read my post, I’m Not Fighting Cancer Anymore, you know that I have been a longtime supporter of the American Cancer Society. Around the time of my birthday, when my sister Cece was reaching the end of her life, ACS came out with a great new marketing campaign, More Birthdays! I meant to write about it back then, but I was focused on being with Cece as she ended her time with us. This campaign is, in my opinion, a brilliant shift for the American Cancer Society. Rather than focusing on the negative fight against cancer, we can focus on the positive, More Birthdays! ACS is now the official sponsor of my birthday, and I encourage you all to rally in support of More Birthdays!
My thanks to whoever at ACS came up with this new campaign. It is a simple, and brilliant change in context.
August 25, 2009 at 11:46 am |
And I, for one, sure appreciated your celebrating with me Ted!
August 28, 2009 at 11:22 am |
Hi Jennifer,
I agree with your idea of a more positive campaign. I joined the Committee for our Relay because I wanted to get away from FIGHT Cancer – I believe what you fight will probably fight back. But someone who is in the middle of cancer sometimes does need to fight back with everything they have in them. It’s what gets the adrenalin going to hold it off. Thank you for posting this – and enjoy many more birthdays.
Pam Smith, Simi Valley Relay for Life 2009 Event Chair
August 28, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
Pam,
Thank you for your comment, and for your participation on your Relay committee. I love Relay, and volunteers like you make it possible. I hope you’ll take the time to read some of my other posts here, too.
Regards,
ted