This is an opinion column

In Louise Applegate’s family, people look for Bluebird moments. They come when you least expect them, she says, and they are signs that you are on the right path. Everything is working out. They give you glimpses of hope.

It’s been a year since her last Bluebird moment. She thought she might have a breast infection, but her mammogram revealed something much more: She had stage 1 breast cancer. The good news was—and Applegate’s family says she always looks for the good news in every situation—the cancer was caught early and required only a lumpectomy, no chemo or radiation.

When she sat with her Huntsville Hospital Nurse Navigator Susan Kane and talked about follow up appointments and medicine she’d need to take to prevent recurrence, the Bluebird flew into the room in the form of a handmade note.

Nurse Kane handed Ms. Applegate a cheerful card made by residents of a local retirement community. The people there wanted breast cancer patients to know that they were thinking of them and wishing them well. They wrote messages of empathy and encouragement.

Ms. Kane didn’t know which retirement home had made the cards—there are so many in our area. But Ms. Applegate’s daughter, Nancy Gauldin, knew. She’s the Move in Coordinator for WellPoint, and she’d been there when the people recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month by listening to educational talks, making treats of graham crackers with a smushed marshmallow in the middle and calling them “Mammograhams,” and gathering in the art studio to make cards of support for people battling breast cancer.

Some decorated the envelopes with the flowers, crosses, and anchors in keeping with the theme of “Refuse to Sink.” Ms. Gauldin’s grandchildren, off from school for fall break, even made cards alongside the WellPoint residents. Her mother was holding one of those very cards made by a resident in her hand.

When Nurse Susan handed her the card, Ms. Applegate knew it was meant for her. She, her husband Fred, and daughter Nancy all cried in gratitude for the random gift. Maybe it wasn’t so random, they thought. Maybe it was meant to be. That’s the Bluebird philosophy, after all.

Now, one year later, WellPoint residents are making cards again and sending them out to breast cancer patients to cheer them up. And does it work? Louise Applegate says it does. “It warms your heart that strangers would send a note, decorate a card, and wish you well.”

The residents are also walking a labyrinth in honor of someone struggling with an illness or in celebration of someone who’s come through an illness of any kind, not just breast cancer.They walk into the center of the labyrinth with a photo or note for the one being honored, place it on a table, then silently walk back out again.

For those who don’t want to walk, they can urge people to do a self-examination or get a mammogram. They can send a note to someone. They can be a Bluebird in someone’s life.

The Honor Walk is Friday, October 13 from 10 am to 2 pm at 2940, Mill Run Road South, Huntsville. To get more information about the Walk, people can call 256-3487878.

Contact Beth Thames at [email protected]