Updated: 07/08/2009 9:26 AM KSTP.com | Print Story
By: Jennifer Griswold

GRISWOLD: Pay it forward

"Cancer sucks." Smack in the middle of all the smiley, happy pictures of my family on my parents' refrigerator there was a bright-colored pin with those words glaring back at me. As I laughed, my dad walked past me and just shrugged. He told me he got it when he went in for his weekly chemo. It's kinda brilliant really. Anyone who's been sick themselves or watched their favorite people destroyed by cancer knows there are no words to explain how it feels. The simplicity of "cancer sucks" is really all you can say. It's the same word my mom would use the day of my dad's service (he didn't want us to use the word funeral.) She looked at me and said, this sucks.

Cancer strips a person of their health, their energy, even their hair, but it doesn't have to take away their control. That's why I'm so pleased to be able to help with a fundraiser organization called the "Pay it Forward Fund."

For the second year in a row, Tom Hauser and I will be "celebrity" (I use that term loosely) blackjack dealers at their fundraiser on February 6. Their slogan is "Cancer doesn't care if you get behind on your bills, we do." It's a fund within the North Memorial Foundation, and they help patients fighting women's cancers (breast, ovarian and uterine) with basic living expenses. 

My family was lucky in some ways. My brother and I were out of the house and caring for ourselves when my dad got sick. I can't imagine how tough it can be for mothers trying to balance career, kids and cancer. This is one way we can help them.

To learn more about the event and the fund, just got to www.payitforwardfund.net.

If you choose to come this weekend, stop by and say hello!

(By the way, sorry to use the word "sucks" in a blog, growing up it was considered a swear in my house!)