June - A Message From Our Founder

A Gift of Time: The Inspiration and the Challenge

January 2005. The month to reflect over the past years of one's life and to resolve to meet life's new challenges with determination and good cheer.

Looking back takes me to 2002, a year I spent in surgeries of mastectomy and reconstruction for cancer in both breasts. A time to endure.

2003, a transition year to new paths, and new directions. A time to begin fulfilling my life's dream of painting and writing. A time to pursue.

2004, a year of inspiration and challenge. "Why don't you start your own foundation?" my friends would ask me. The answer came in a meeting with Dr. Uhr of the SWMC in Dallas. He told me of his funding needs to continue a vital study of breast cancer. And he brought to me the dramatic results from his research department of the medical treatment of a breast cancer patient who was 24 hours from death and who is now still alive. It was for her a gift of time. A gift measured in hours and days, months and years of renewed life. Dr. Uhr gave me the answer to the challenging question of starting a foundation. I knew that I could at least be a spokesperson for finding a cause, leading to a cure. A time to create.

2005, a gift of time, the paintings. Dr. Uhr's work gave inspiration and impetus for me to begin a new series of paintings I call The Gift of Time. Each is dedicated to a woman's name and contains within the composition a piece of a watch to symbolize time. And the sales can go toward breast cancer research. A time to honor.

2005, the gift of time, early detection. Each woman has in her sole power to give herself a gift more valuable than diamonds. The gift of time to herself through her early detection of possible breast cancer. A time to hope.

2005 and beyond, the priceless gift of time that we can leave to our daughters and granddaughters by supporting medical research that can discover the cause of breast cancer. Knowing the cause can lead to better detection methods (what if there could be a blood test?); or better yet, a cure (not the drastic treatments currently known of radiation, surgery, chemo); or even better, prevention (perhaps like the polio vaccine)! What a priceless gift!
A time to believe.

To each of you my readers, I send profound thanks for your support of the Weathervane Foundation.

Fran Padgett