About
Posted on 09/11/2009 02:58 pm by adminYes, I am new at this, and I am holding a lot of hands while I try and figure it all out.
I just started my new company, CAREBOX™, and I am way out of my comfort zone. I have owned event companies for the last 20 years, but when my dad got sick 2 1/2 years ago, I laid off employees who were loved so much, had a dramatic fire sale and left town to take care of him until he died. A month before he died, I got a call from my aunt who told me my cousin was dx with breast cancer, and the day before he died, my mom was in a huge car accident. They were divorced, and didn’t live in the same town, which made it hard to get to her because I had so many things to take care of— she was ok, the car was a mess and she was scared, but she was ok.
It was only a few months later that my mom had a stroke in Denver, terrifying stuff, these strokes. I went to Denver, and just stayed. I was determined to teach her to walk and talk again and bring her to CA to live with or near me. I had so much hope, and my will was so strong that I influenced her as well. I packed up her house while she slept at night in a rehab center, a little more each day, until she had an important surgery to clear an artery. That’s when we found she had stage 4 adenocarcinoma and little time to live. She decided against chemo, which I could understand.
My two brothers and I lost her only a few months later. She was the love of my life.
Well, I never found the energy to go back to events, but decided the best thing for me to do was raise money for an early detection blood test for lung cancer, so voila! CAREBOX™ was born. I designed 9 boxes, each addressing some aspect of the illnesses I had learned about, and using my design skills and experience in starting a company from scratch—I thought I would give this a whirl.
I will be donating 10% of my profits towards companies that are working to find that early detection blood test for lung cancer, and in one case, I have a box devoted to breast cancer. It’s called Club Pink. I just named the organization that I will be working with today, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®, better known as BCRF.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Hi Chris
I was given your name by Cara Hale Alter from NAWBO. I had emailed her as to a potential book talk. Let me briefly explain. I started the Susan Satriano Foundation in 2006, six months after my wife of 29 years passed away of breast cancer after a 13 year battle. The Foundation helps the “Silent Sufferers”, HS seniors, going to a college in the fall, but unfortunately have a parent presently battling cancer, or had a parent succumb to the dreaded disease. In 4 years of its existence, the Foundation has helped 33 aforementioned kids with $37,000 all earmarked for their college education. Since that time, I actually wrote an inspirational book, “In Sickness And In Health: A Memoir Of Love”, about my life with Sue. Despite the bad hand we were dealt, the book demonstrates how Sue and I chose to live life to the fullest. It is a book about hope, love, and optimism, not one about loss. Another great feature of the book is that EVERY CENT from its sale goes to the Foundation…I don’t take a penny from it. I have done many speaking engagements and each time, I’ve been told how uplifted people feel after hearing my story.
I will be coming out to the Bay Area in May to see my son, Matthew graduate and receive his Ph.d in Mathematics from Berkeley. My trip is fulfilling enough to witness that event, but I figured that just maybe I could also get the word out about my book and the Foundation. Unfortunately, NAWBO is not having a May event, but Cara suggested that I contact you and that maybe there just may be a match here. If you get a moment, please go to http://www.susansatrianofoundation.com . It will show you all about the book, the Foundation, comments from “satisfied” readers, media coverage, etc. I would love to hear from you, one way or another. If you think that possibly you can help, that would be great.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Joe Satriano
Trustee/Author
email: joesue52@aol.com
phone # : 516 603 5520