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A mother's tribute -- Lucy's Turbans are memorial to daughter
A little more than seven years ago, Lucile Banzhaf sat alone in the dark with her 38-year-old daughter, Linda, at a Denver hospital, singing her favorite hymns and praying. As the sounds of the final chorus of "Old Rugged Cross" began to fade, Linda opened her eyes, looked lovingly at her mother and said "More." It was the last word she ever said.
Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer two and a half years earlier. Despite repeated chemotherapy treatments and radiation therapy, doctors were unable to stop the cancer ravaging her body. Through it all, Lucile spent endless hours at her daughter's side, helping to make her life easier.
At about 2 o'clock on the morning of Sept. 28, 1997, Lucile called the nurses to the room, asking them to help make Linda more comfortable. Lucile left the room and went to wait and pray in the small chapel down the hallway from the oncology center.
That's where the nurses found her and told her the dreaded news.
Shortly after Linda's death, Lucile retired from her position as night shift ward clerk at Community Hospital‚ but she didn't stop working.
Today Lucile is an active volunteer for her local church. She is on call for Community HealthCare, Community Hospital's home health and hospice program, and she's found a special way of helping out cancer victims who are devastated by the side effects of chemotherapy.
During her illness, Linda lost and regrew her hair three different times, Lucile explained, each time it seemed as though that hair loss was more devastating than the nausea, fatigue and mouth sores that often accompany treatment with chemotherapy drugs.
One day, two years ago, Lucile's brother gave her an issue of Guideposts. The edition included a request for seamstresses who would be interested in sewing turbans for victims of cancer.
Lucile ordered the pattern and once she received it, she threw herself wholeheartedly into the project. Over the past two years she has sent about 500 turbans to the American Cancer Society and the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center in Denver. She has another 150 ready to go. "It is my way of honoring and remembering Linda," she said. And it's a way to heal from the pain of losing her precious daughter.
Lucile has received help on the project from a variety of sources. When she ran out of the cotton knit material required for the turbans and could no longer find it locally, the two organizations sent some to her. A local woman has also donated several yards. Community Hospital pays the postage for the shipments.
The idea for the turbans started with the Community United Methodist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla. In an October 2004 letter, project coordinator Christine Young told Lucile the organization has sent out 8,287 starter packets to all 50 states and 15 foreign countries and more than 16,000 turbans have been distributed.
"The requests still come in weekly for the starter packets and for that we are very grateful," Christine wrote. "We hope to keep the project alive and growing as long as cancer provides the need."
To find out more, to request a pattern, or to make a contribution to the program, contact the Community United Methodist Church, 616 Harvey Ave., Daytona Beach, FL, 32118.
EDITOR'S NOTE -- Lucile Banzhaf is the mother of the writer.