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Employees Moved by Customer’s Cancer Tribute. Postal Life. May/June 1996. United States Postal Service. Washington, DC. By: Michael Miles
Original Printed Version of This Article
“It was probably the worst day of my life,” says Lisa Pettyjohn, recalling what happened after her month, almost by accident, discovered a lump in her breast.
“My fathers, brothers, sisters and I were there when the doctor told us mom had cancer. We broke down,” adds Pettyjohn., a Warren, MI, letter carrier. “I thought my mother was going to die.”
“Losing her would have been like losing half my life. I’d still have my family, but even now, I can cry just thinking about what might have happened to her,” says the young woman, eyes brimming with tears.
Luckily for her mom, Pauline Flum, the cancer was caught in time. The 59-year-old mother of nine later underwent a modified radical mastectomy, but thanks to extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments, her cancer has been in remission for more than five years. But since her mother’s encounter with the disease, the 28-year-old Pettyjohn knows she and her four sisters are in a high-risk group for getting breast cancer. The experience has heightened their awareness of the need for early detection, and all now regularly perform self-examinations.
Although nearly seven years since the cancer diagnosis, the memories of her mom’s struggle came flooding back when Pettyjohn read about the experiences of Metairie, LA, postal customer Kevin Donahoe in the October 1994 issue of Focus, the former national newspaper for postal employees.
Donahoe’s father, Jim, a New Orleans longshoreman, died in early 1994 after a lengthy battle with cancer. As a tribute to his father, an avid gardener with a particular fondness for four-o’clock flowers, Donahoe began a campaign to have “pieces of his father’s spirit” planted in each state by July 17, 1994- what would have been his father’s 66th birthday. So he turned to the Postal Service for help and sent four-o’clock seeds to two postmasters in each state. He asked them to plant the seeds and them to contact him.
After the article appeared, Donahoe offered seeds upon request. He received nearly 1,000 letters from postal employees across the country who also detailed their personal experiences with cancer.
“When I heard about Kevin, I immediately thought about my mom and how difficult her cancer was,” says Pettyjohn, who is married with a 4-year-old son. “I was impressed with Kevin’s love for his dad and wanted the seeds for my folks. I planted them at their house and mine and also gave some to my brother and sisters.”
Mrs. Flum says the flowers that sprouted from those seeds are a tremendous source of inspiration for her during a difficult time in her life. “Kevin’s accomplishment is a tremendous tribute to his dad. There is no greater gift he could have given him; just as Lisa planting these beautiful four-o’clocks is a loving tribute to me.”
Donahoe’s act of love reached other postal people whose lives have been touched by cancer. Linda Monahan, Shrewsbury, MA supervisor of accountable paper, says when she read about the tribute, she wished she had done something more for her father, Nicholas Nugent, who died of lung cancer when she was 18. He her husband, Stephen, a window clerk in Worchester, MA, also lost his mother, Gladys, to lung cancer.
“Kevin’s story brought tears to my eyes,” says Monagan. “Because of cancer, my father never knew any of his grandchildren. I talk to my son Ryan about his grandfather so he will know the wonderful man his grandfather was and often look at old photographs of him. One day, after Ryan and I spent time looking at the photos and talking about his grandparents, we went out and planted the seeds that Kevin sent to us. We made the planting a family project.”
Although he succeeded in his original goal of having four-o’clocks planted at post office around the country, Donahoe’s quest to heighten the public’s awareness of cancer, and to raise funds for cancer research goes on. His letters have drawn responses from Postmaster General Marvin Runyon; George Stephanopolous, senior advisor to President Clinton; Hillary Rodham Clinton; several governors and a number of U.S. Ambassadors overseas. All have expressed support and praise for his efforts.
Donahoe says while the two-year crusade has left him emotionally drained, it also has given him an outlet to vent his grief and to reach out to others in similar situations. “I still remember my father’s final days when I would take him outside in his wheelchair to see the flowers he loved so much bloom in the afternoon sun, says Donahoe, who is following in his father’s footsteps in cultivating four-o’clocks.
“My father and I were very close,” adds Donahoe, in a deep resonant voice tinged with a southern drawl. “This is his legacy. I started this campaign to honor him, but it also honors everyone who has battled cancer and the caregivers who support cancer patients. As long as there is no cure for the disease and as long as there are caregivers who need hope, I will continue.”
While Pettyjohn and Monahan have never met Donahoe, because of their shared experiences with cancer and the four-o’clocks, they speak of him as if he were an old friend.
“I put myself in his shoes, and felt like I knew some of what he was going through, “ says Pettyjohn. “I sent him a card thanking him for the seeds, and he wrote back to me. My mom and I also both sent him Christmas cards. I feel like we’ve become fast friends. I’m glad I got involved in his tribute.”
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Four-O'clocks
Around the World©, 1994 - 2005 New Orleans, Louisiana U.S.A.
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