Everybody's Got Something by Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers Page A
Authors: Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers
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I don’t have time to get into it, but we need to talk.”
I hadn’t even made it back to the office before she e-mailed me and said, “I need more details, let’s talk now.”
So we had a long conversation. And she simply said, “I’m on it.” Within days, she knew more about MDS than I did. She called doctors all across the country while coordinating with Rich Besser, who is our chief medical editor. Rich, Diane and I were like this little stealth team, undercover, doing the research, weighing the options. Rich and Diane weren’t giving my name when they talked to doctors; they were just gathering vital information. Eventually I added Tom Cibrowski to our tight circle of confidence. Tom is my executive producer, but also a dear friend. Plus, I felt somebody at work needed to know if I started to call in sick frequently.
Diane Sawyer should have been a doctor. Her ability to process, catalogue and interpret the most complicated medical information is nothing short of stunning. Usually when someone is in crisis, I’m the person who can coolly sift through information and make decisions about the best line of action, but from the moment that I whispered my news into her ear, Diane took charge, and I was so grateful. She is not a colleague. She is not an air-kiss associate. She is my friend and my lifeline. She was one of the first people I saw in our family’s yard after Daddy died. She not only got herself to the Gulf Coast but she managed to rustle up food from one of our favorite restaurants, Mary Mahoney’s. She wanted to be sure we had gumbo waiting for us when we came back from the funeral home. That’s just Diane. She will be someone I know and love until I draw my last breath.
Chapter 9
Finding My Match
A fter my father died in 2004, a wonderful writer named Missy Buchanan sent me one of her books to share with Momma. The book was called Living with Purpose in a Worn-Out Body , and the title went directly to the heart of what I saw in my mother’s elder years. Mom had just celebrated her eightieth birthday, and the health issues were piling up. Yet she was still a force to be reckoned with in the community, still fighting the good fight. She was known statewide for her work with the governor’s office, but she also took on passion projects closer to home, such as helping the Boys and Girls Club build a beautiful recreation center in the Pass after Katrina. (Momma believed in the power of afterschool programs; no idle hands on her watch!) She lived with purpose even as she faced serious health challenges. I sent her Missy’s book right away.
I didn’t know for several months that Momma had not only read Living with Purpose , but she found Missy’s number and called her.
“How did you know what I was thinking when you wrote that book?” Momma asked Missy.
And with that, a special friendship began. Several years later, Missy offered to help Momma write the incredible story of her life from living in poverty in Akron, Ohio, to receiving a $200 scholarship to Howard University, where she had lunch with Eleanor Roosevelt; from being stationed abroad in locales as far-flung as Japan and Turkey to becoming the first black president of the Officers’ Wives Club in Mississippi.
Missy traveled from her home in Texas to the Pass, and the two women spent happy days together eating gumbo and telling stories. By then Mom was in her late eighties, and she wasn’t always up for the company. Missy would stay at a nearby hotel and wait for Mom’s call. Missy is the rare soul that understands, truly understands, older adults: their fears, struggles and hopes. My mother could not have found a better collaborator, and I am so proud of her book.
Now it was April 20, 2012, the day of Mom’s big book party. It was a beautiful sunny day in the Pass. Friends and family had traveled near and far to celebrate Mom. Upper Room Books were the hosts, and the venue was Oak Crest Mansion, an elegant and beautiful
I hadn’t even made it back to the office before she e-mailed me and said, “I need more details, let’s talk now.”
So we had a long conversation. And she simply said, “I’m on it.” Within days, she knew more about MDS than I did. She called doctors all across the country while coordinating with Rich Besser, who is our chief medical editor. Rich, Diane and I were like this little stealth team, undercover, doing the research, weighing the options. Rich and Diane weren’t giving my name when they talked to doctors; they were just gathering vital information. Eventually I added Tom Cibrowski to our tight circle of confidence. Tom is my executive producer, but also a dear friend. Plus, I felt somebody at work needed to know if I started to call in sick frequently.
Diane Sawyer should have been a doctor. Her ability to process, catalogue and interpret the most complicated medical information is nothing short of stunning. Usually when someone is in crisis, I’m the person who can coolly sift through information and make decisions about the best line of action, but from the moment that I whispered my news into her ear, Diane took charge, and I was so grateful. She is not a colleague. She is not an air-kiss associate. She is my friend and my lifeline. She was one of the first people I saw in our family’s yard after Daddy died. She not only got herself to the Gulf Coast but she managed to rustle up food from one of our favorite restaurants, Mary Mahoney’s. She wanted to be sure we had gumbo waiting for us when we came back from the funeral home. That’s just Diane. She will be someone I know and love until I draw my last breath.
Chapter 9
Finding My Match
A fter my father died in 2004, a wonderful writer named Missy Buchanan sent me one of her books to share with Momma. The book was called Living with Purpose in a Worn-Out Body , and the title went directly to the heart of what I saw in my mother’s elder years. Mom had just celebrated her eightieth birthday, and the health issues were piling up. Yet she was still a force to be reckoned with in the community, still fighting the good fight. She was known statewide for her work with the governor’s office, but she also took on passion projects closer to home, such as helping the Boys and Girls Club build a beautiful recreation center in the Pass after Katrina. (Momma believed in the power of afterschool programs; no idle hands on her watch!) She lived with purpose even as she faced serious health challenges. I sent her Missy’s book right away.
I didn’t know for several months that Momma had not only read Living with Purpose , but she found Missy’s number and called her.
“How did you know what I was thinking when you wrote that book?” Momma asked Missy.
And with that, a special friendship began. Several years later, Missy offered to help Momma write the incredible story of her life from living in poverty in Akron, Ohio, to receiving a $200 scholarship to Howard University, where she had lunch with Eleanor Roosevelt; from being stationed abroad in locales as far-flung as Japan and Turkey to becoming the first black president of the Officers’ Wives Club in Mississippi.
Missy traveled from her home in Texas to the Pass, and the two women spent happy days together eating gumbo and telling stories. By then Mom was in her late eighties, and she wasn’t always up for the company. Missy would stay at a nearby hotel and wait for Mom’s call. Missy is the rare soul that understands, truly understands, older adults: their fears, struggles and hopes. My mother could not have found a better collaborator, and I am so proud of her book.
Now it was April 20, 2012, the day of Mom’s big book party. It was a beautiful sunny day in the Pass. Friends and family had traveled near and far to celebrate Mom. Upper Room Books were the hosts, and the venue was Oak Crest Mansion, an elegant and beautiful
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