I am an avid collector – and go down to the Bouckville (New York) antique show every August. My sister-in-law and I take a week off from work and scour the fields daily. Typically, (I don’t know why) I make a statement about what I want to find – I don’t know if it is to “put it out there” in the universe or what… but that year I stated “I want to buy a piece of art – cheap.”
And… almost the first booth I went to, I found a piece of art – it was an oil painting – and sitting on the ground propped up against a plastic box. I picked it up and looked at it and thought it would look good in my living room. It didn’t have a frame AND it had a small hole in it. It was a beach scene in Hawaii (I guessed this based on the information on the back of the canvas), and I thought it was from around the 1930’s. I brought it over to the owner and asked, “how much?’ After he grabbed it out of my hands, he said… “Oh, I’ve got to get $20 bucks for this!) Since I already was holding a small beaded bag that he said I could “have” for $35, I asked if he’d “do” $50 for both. He said yes and I handed him a $50 bill. We put the painting in 2 small plastic bags (one on each end) and I tucked it under my arm and went on my merry way.
A little while later, while I was walking around with the painting still tucked under my arm, I heard a weird buzzing sound and then SMACK, a bug hit me in the center of my forehead! (I even had a baseball hat and glasses on). I started to freak out because I thought it was a Japanese beetle, and flicked at it and it landed on my shorts… and when I when looked down and I saw that it was a ladybug. I scooted it off me and said, “Ladybug, bring me some good luck, help me find something good.”… I didn’t know I already had found it.
When the day was done, I opened the back door of my car, and tossed my $20 painting in the back seat and went home.
A few days later I started to wonder about who the artist was. I thought the painting looked like it was painted by someone “who know what he/she was doing.” I “Googled” the signature and couldn’t believe my eyes. I had bought a painting by a famous American artist!
My husband and I did more research about the artist and decided that we couldn’t keep something so valuable – and make sure it was properly cared for. So… I contacted a few auction houses – Christies and Sotheby’s in New York City and Brunk Auctions in North Carolina. All three agreed to sell my painting. I decided to go with Brunk Auctions, because they gave me personal attention and I knew up front what the costs would be. I sold the painting on January 7, 2006. We watched it on ebay live and it took only 28 seconds for it to be sold for a lot more than my $20 investment.
After the sale of the painting, I thought, “now that I have this money, I want to make sure I’m around to enjoy it” and called my doctor’s for a regular checkup and a mammogram.
My mammogram was scheduled for February 8, 2006. After my mammogram, I sat in the waiting area for a while. I don’t remember how many women came and went while I was still sitting there. Finally the technician came in and told me the doctor wanted a ultrasound because he saw a cyst. The ultrasound showed a mass right next to the cyst. A few weeks later, I had a biopsy and it was confirmed – I had breast cancer. This was very difficult news to hear and realize that even though I felt fine, there was this evil “thing” lurking in my body. I had a couple of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. One and a half years later, I was finally “done.”
Using the word “done” isn’t a word that I use lightly. I don’t know if you are ever “done” with this type of thing. I try to keep a positive attitude and think “I am done” but you know it can come back and “smack you in the face” again. I am choosing to believe that I did “all the work” (surgery, chemo, radiation) so that I am “done” and that I won’t be sharing my body with cancer again. I am thankful that I made it through and am here to raise money to try and help find a cure. Many people ask me if I am going to continue to do what I do – and I tell them, “Yes, I have to, it is now my quest to help in some way.”
That’s my diagnosis story. I truly believe that if I hadn’t sold the painting in January, I might not have scheduled my mammogram until later in the year and my diagnosis might have been worse. I was lucky – and I think the ladybug did help me “find something good.”
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