Mark, Stephanie & Nate Rosman – 1999 I hate cancer with a passion. During my 32-year career with Greater Media Newspapers, our staff writers have authored hundreds of articles about men, women and children who have battled the disease.
Some of those articles have had happy endings and some, unfortunately, have reported the death of an individual who was fighting for his or her life.
Just the other day I received a press release from a local preschool that recently held an event to raise money for the families of two young mothers who have been diagnosed with cancer — one case of pancreatic cancer and one case of breast cancer.
I certainly understand the battle those women are facing.
As I have written here on occasion during the past 15 years, I lost my first wife to cancer. On April 16, 1999, Stephanie Rosman, 38, died of complications of Hodgkin’s disease.
Stephanie discovered a lump on her collarbone in late June 1998 and within a week we had the diagnosis we feared: cancer. Chemotherapy, radiation treatments and a stem cell transplant followed over the next nine months, but unfortunately, the story did not have a happy ending.
I was left to care for my son, Nate, who had just turned 4. It was not easy being a single parent, but with the help of caring relatives and several very special people who came into my life, we managed to do what needed to be done (this included taking Nate to many “all ages” shows at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, among other venues).
I bring this up now because earlier this year I was nominated to participate in the Man/Woman of the Year program that is sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).
Although I have never participated in a public cancer event and it is not in my nature to ask others to support the fight against cancer, I believed the time was right, on the 15th anniversary of Stephanie’s passing, to say yes to this honor and to do whatever I could to raise money for the LLS.
According to its website, the LLS is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer.
The LLS’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.
The Man/Woman of the Year program will run from March 10 through May 17. I will be writing more about my efforts in the upcoming weeks.
I cannot change the ending to Stephanie’s story, but it would give me a great deal of satisfaction to raise as much money as I can for the LLS so other families can have a chance to win their battle against a frightening disease that claims the lives of so many people each year.
Mark Rosman is a managing editor with Greater Media Newspapers. He may be reached at [email protected].