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Red Ribbon

As a young mother, reveling in the marvels of modern medicine that guaranteed a healthy beginning for my child, my mother shared that, while awaiting my own birth, she celebrated the discovery of a vaccine that would ensure a healthier world for her child. Another generation, steadfast in its hope, longs to marvel, yearns for the celebration, waits for the miracle that will emerge from the minds of the gifted, the patient, the persistent, the compassionate. Isn’t it amazing, though, how that, even during the bleakest of times, the deepest of despairs, the human spirit ignites, illuminates, enlightens and delivers unexpected gifts? For, even out of darkness, life is revealed in a brand new light, punctuating every precious moment with a brilliance that dispels the shadows. Life renews and reshapes, enriched by the very contrast from which it is reborn with little focus on anything other than living each moment as if it were the last. Why is living so invigorated by the harsh realization of one’s mortality? One day, in a future not too distant to be envisioned, the Red Ribbon will unfurl in tribute to every heart touched and transformed by the experience of celebrating the gift of life while waiting and hoping and praying and believing that somewhere, somehow miracles can and do happen.