Amy Nevins Pattenato is a strong woman who has been fighting breast cancer since May. Her journey so far hasn’t been easy, so a lazy breakfast with her husband and daughter last Sunday was just what she needed to take a breath and relax. It was there that she met an “angel”, a “pink sister” who would become her friend.
Pattenato was diagnosed with breast cancer last May, she had a double mastectomy and has been going through chemotherapy lately. At the same time, she has also been diagnosed with kidney failure, so while going through this, she is also undergoing dialysis and, once her chemo sessions are reduced to once every three weeks – she has seven weekly treatments left before the chemo is reduced to that- she will begin looking for a kidney and liver transplant.
Chemotherapy caused the woman’s hair to fall out in chunks, so she recently decided to shave it and, actually, that Sunday was the first day she had been out since shaving her hair. Next to them, at the Medford restaurant was sitting a family of six. Pattenato caught one of the four daughters of the family looking at her a few times and she immediately thought it was because of her shaved hair. She was devastated at the thought of attracting other people’s attention-maybe pity? But she was proved wrong.
When the other family was about to leave, the mother approached Pattenato and explained that she was a 13-year cancer survivor and that she felt for her, as she knew exactly what she was going through. They had a brief chat, Pattenato thanked her for her kind words and then the family left. When Amy asked for the bill, she found out it had already been paid by the family next to them. That’s when she broke down into tears. She was so overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of that woman and yet she had no idea how to thank her.
“With that I began to cry! All I know is she is from sachem as they all had sachem shirts on. I thanked her for sitting and sharing her story but never knew to thank for paying our bill.” she wrote on her Facebook post.
With that post, she hoped to somehow reach that woman who took time to comfort her and give her so much positivity, but also was generous enough to pay their bill. Eventually, the woman was found, since the original post was shared more than a thousand times. It is Kerry Holmes-Vallario, who beat cancer years ago and wanted to help a fellow fighter out in this way.
“When I saw her sitting there I just wanted her to know that she isn’t alone in her fight and that ‘we’ as warriors are all here for each other. On my journey I had met so many women who became friends from this disease and I wanted a just reach out to Amy and let her know I was there for her.” Vallario told Patch.
The two women are now Facebook friends and share their experiences, as well as positive vibes.
This story is one of many about how difficult situations bring people together. People who have gone through a hard time often want to support and encourage others who are going through something similar, like someone else once did for them. Such beautiful instances of kindness are enough to restore our faith in humanity.
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