Today is the first day of breast cancer awareness month and it got me thinking about the day I met and interviewed Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts.
I was still covering the happenings on the Gulf Coast and she had returned to her home to sign copies of her newest book “Everybody’s Got Something,” at Pass Christian Books.
Not only was I going to get to cover the book event, I also had the immense pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Roberts.
Yes, she called my cell phone and I pretty much told anyone who would listen about it for two weeks.
Before my interview, I devoured her book with laughter and tears.
It is about her harrowing experience with a bone marrow transplant to treat a rare blood disorder. This was only a mere five years after she had beaten breast cancer.
This woman is truly an inspiration to me. Not only did she defy the odds in the male dominated world of sports reporting, but she has fought and beaten cancer and this disorder with the eyes of the world watching and documented her journey before and after the donation of bone marrow from her sister, Sally Ann Roberts.
She maintains the highest of spirits even when stakes are at their lowest. The gist of the book is that everybody is going through something at one time or another, but it’s how we deal with life’s trials that determines the outcome.
My own “something” has been coping with the fact that my father is on dialysis. He has one of the greatest attitudes, much like Roberts, and it truly makes a difference.
At the book signing, where she takes the time to speak with each and every guest, I asked her to sign a copy of her book for my dad, who was out of town at the time, and this is what she wrote, “To Curtis, thinking of you, this too shall pass. Blessings, Robin.”
This will always be one of the best moments not only in my career, but of my life.