[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6067-6068]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO ADRIENNE GIORDANO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to your attention, 
Ms. Adrienne Giordano of Belleville, New Jersey.
  Adrienne Giordano wrote this letter for a school project reflecting 
the impact that Cancer has had on the families of its victims, and how 
it has had an impact on virtually every family in America. Adrienne's 
expressions are viewed through the eyes of a young girl as she watched 
the devastation of Cancer on her family members. This essay was written 
out of pure emotion and it is her insights that have made an impression 
on me.
  Her essay reads as follows:

       When I was young I had two sets of healthy and out-going 
     grandparents, or so I thought. I grew up thinking that way 
     until I was about six years old. At that time, my dad told me 
     that my grandma, his mom, had cancer since he was a young 
     boy. However, she was now in remission and was supposedly 
     doing quite well. By the time I was nine, I found out that my 
     grandma's cancer had returned, but she hadn't told anyone for 
     five years or so.
       From that point on, my family and I saw her go in and out 
     of hospitals for a few years. Each time she was out, she 
     would make the best of it even though she was suffering 
     inside. She became very ill at one point and the doctors said 
     that she would die within a couple of months. To make matters 
     worse, my other grandfather went into the hospital for cancer 
     too.
       He became very sick, in fact to the point that he could 
     hardly speak, or even breathe. The thought of living without 
     my grandpa as a part of my life was very difficult for me. In 
     words I cannot express the pain inside of me, although it 
     couldn't possibly amount to the pain that he was going 
     through. He was suffering but showed it rarely, but then 
     again how could he not, he was in a hospital, on a floor with 
     dying cancer patients who were waiting to die. He had to deal 
     with what he had and how it was going to be. There was no

[[Page 6068]]

     say in what was happening to him, as a healthy man for all of 
     his previous life nobody though that he would ever be this 
     sickly, and either did he. About four months after he went 
     in, he passed away. Although I knew it was coming, it hit me 
     hard and it hit my heart. I thought that I would go through 
     some sort of emotional grieving stage, but I didn't, my 
     feelings stayed bundled up inside until the days of the wake 
     and funeral. On those days I cried more that I ever had in my 
     whole lifetime. But I had to move on and keep the joyful 
     memories in the back of my mind. Every time I feel upset or 
     wondered, ``Why them, why such wonderful people, what have 
     they done to deserve this?'', I looked back to all of the 
     good times they had, and what wonderful lives they had to 
     remember. Sometimes thinking about how they loved life and 
     cherished each moment of the day made me realize that their 
     lives weren't only misery and fighting this deadly disease, 
     but enjoying the good times, and making the best of the bad.
       Weeks passed after the death of my grandfather and by then 
     my grandma had gathered enough strength to pull through. Once 
     again, she was released from the hospital, but inside I knew 
     that the fight wasn't over yet and she would soon return to 
     the halls of the sickly dying cancer patients. I had seen her 
     fight for so many years, and the story repeated itself, in 
     the hospital and out, and back in again. What could make me 
     think that this time would be different? It was the same and 
     always the same, I knew that one day she would take the final 
     punch and the fight would finally end.
       As I predicted, she went back five months later. Although 
     I've seen her go in and out of hospitals for as long as I 
     could remember, when I saw her that time I noticed something 
     different. She seemed as though she was sick of cancer and 
     tired of fighting it. A couple more months passed and it 
     looked worse and worse. The most upsetting thing for me to 
     deal with was that I was losing two grandparents, who are two 
     of the most important people in the world to me, to a deadly 
     disease that killed millions each year, CANCER! By that time 
     I didn't want to hear another word about cancer, and I wished 
     and prayed that it could be cured, and quick. But it did 
     exist and there wasn't a cure. It felt like an evil monster 
     that had corrupted my grandparents bodies. In May of 1998, my 
     beloved grandmother died. I will never forget that day, it 
     was one of the worst days of my life. Inside I was torn up 
     and my heart was shredded to pieces, then I realized that my 
     grandparents wouldn't be able to take part in my life ever 
     again. I remember thinking to myself how I wished they could 
     be alive again just the way it was.
       However, as I look back at those thoughts, it was selfish 
     of me to want them to be back in the hospital, dying and 
     suffering from cancer, because that was the way it was, and 
     now I take back those wishes. Also I realized that the 
     memories I had with them in the past have become priceless 
     and those are the memories that I will remember them in the 
     future. I can finally say that I am relieved that my 
     grandparents aren't suffering anymore and they are in a 
     peaceful place. It is now very important for me to think 
     about all people, not just myself, I have to understand that 
     some people aren't as lucky as I am, I am healthy and out-
     going and I should cherish every moment of life. Things come 
     and go, including health, but you should never lose your 
     happiness and the love for the people who love you.

  Mr. Speaker, please join me, our colleagues, Adrienne's family and 
friends in wishing her continued success in all of her future 
endeavors.

                          ____________________