Star Walk of Fame

Linda Carlyle
Dayton, TN

Honored by Donna Owenby

I would like to tell you about another star whose light shone through for me when my way was too dark. Her name is Linda Carlyle. My sister. I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the cervix in 1999. The first person I called was my sister Linda. She had picked my daughter up at school. She and I have always been close. As a young girl, I would always have bad dreams and Linda was always there to chase my monsters away. I called her and deep down, I believe I was thinking, Sissy make it go away. My sister told me to pull myself together and she and Tiffany would meet me at our mother's. And so began our journey through the valley of the shadow of death. My sister would take me for medical appointments and sit in waiting rooms for countless hours while her baby sister, the one she always protected was being buffeted with needles and procedures. She was fighting for life. After my surgery, my sister found out from the oncologist I was going to make it, my sister shouted loudly. Much too loudly for the hospital; but she didn't care. I had been out of work from October 1 through the end of the year. The healing process was slow due to the invasiveness of the cancer. I found myself a single mom, no income and along with my growing debt, Christmas was just around the corner. I remember crying myself to sleep at night asking God to bless my daughter with a good Christmas. I knew her Dad (we were divorced) would come through for her on his side. However, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my mother's and then she would open presents at our house Christmas morning and leave for her Dad's house. I never mentioned to my sister, my heartbreak of not giving Tiffany any Christmas presents. She knew my heart. She knows me so well. Little did I know, because of who my sister is, the entire company where she works pitched in and bought presents. They not only took the time to find out what Tiffany wanted. They also went and purchased her presents. They also took up money for me. I'll never forget the look on my precious daughter's face as she and I came home that Christmas Eve. I was still very weak and my daughter who was only 12 at the time, had to help drive me home. I saw concern etched on my sweet daughter's face. That concern soon gave way to awe. We made our way into our home. There were presents for both of us. There was food and fruit and love. Lots of love. That is when my heart began to heal from the cancer. My body and all of its aches and pains was healing. However, the pain, the shame, the why me?, the loneliness, the loss was all still inside. Until that Christmas Eve night. My sister had somehow got into my home, while we were up at mother's. and they unloaded car loads of gifts. Tiffany's face was lit up so brightly that we had no need for Christmas lights. The love and tenderness of that Christmas is forever etched in my heart. You see, my sister is my star. It is because of her that I was able to "defeat" this monster called cancer. I remember, once again crying all night. This time it was thanking God for the love of my family and friends. Tiffany got everything she asked for and more that year. Life returned back to normal and in 2002, I was told the cancer had returned. This time our weapon was chemo. After my third treatment, I became extremely ill. I called the Oncologist and he said to get to his office immediately. I called Linda, and she came (as always) immediately. She took one look at me and I could see worry creep over her face. There was a smile on her lips but it never reached her eyes. She was scared. She helped me into her vehicle. I remember thinking on the way down, “Please God don’t let me die now. Don’t let me be alone with her in this truck. Lord it would break her heart.” I remember very little about that day. I remember the doctor getting very angry with me. It wasn’t me; the nurse had said later, this was his normal reaction when he was afraid for a patient. I remember my sister being at my side. I remember him admitting me. My sister and a male nurse were transporting me to the fifth floor of the hospital. I remember asking the nurse what is the fifth floor? He smiled sadly and said ever so quietly, “It’s the cancer floor.” That is when the realization of how serious it all was hit me. I smiled at my sister. She looked as scared as I felt. I remember hearing her calling someone and asking them to pick up Tiffany at school. I vaguely remember being placed in a bed and shortly thereafter I went into a peaceful, drug induced sleep. I woke up and saw my sister sitting by my bed. She chased imaginary monsters away when we were little. She was always my big sister there ready and willing to protect me. I awoke to find she had once again chased my monster away. There she was my "Star" shining ever so brightly. She says that Melissa Etheridge's "I run for Life" was written for me. Oh but she is so wrong, It was written for us.. We have been through much together. Even our mother's recent battle with lung cancer. She passed away just a few short weeks ago. It was because of my sister and her love for me, that I was able to battle cancer and win so that I could aide my mother in her fight with cancer. It is because of her I was able to spend the last few weeks by my mother's side. Thank you Linda. Shine on Sissy shine on.