Additional information
by Joan Portman (Author)
When the doctors told my husband, "Your father has brain cancer," our world went dark. Harry
was a bright light in our family-funny, out-going, and always ready with bear hugs and jokes.
We were filled with questions.
- Will he survive?
- Will he suffer?
- What treatments and medications are available?
- How can we help him with whatever lies ahead?
This heartwarming book shares the silver lining legacy inspired by accompanying Harry during
his nine-month battle with the disease that ultimately claimed his life. That legacy became the
Healing Environments Program we created for the Saint Mary Medical Center in Langhorne,
Pennsylvania in 2007. This program relied on the creative abilities of off-site crafters who
generously volunteered their time and talents creating handmade items of comfort which were
offered as gifts to seriously ill patients by on-site volunteers.
Over nine years, we visited more than 26,000 patients, gifting them with 9,329 afghans, shawls,
and quilts, plus 18,250 additional comfort items such as neck roll pillows, mastectomy pillows,
and hair-loss caps.
It is my sincere desire that you find within these pages an awakening to ways you can reach out
in compassion to help those you know and love or to provide comfort to perfect strangers. I also
hope you discover some answers to the question, "What can I possibly do to help?" And in
finding those answers, may you also be blessed to discover your own 'healing place.'
It is said, a candle loses nothing of its brilliance by lighting another candle. As you offer yourself
in service to others, some aspect of your life will inevitably be healed.
