Grammy, Caroline, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital

June 10, 2011



Grammy, Caroline, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital


Uterine papillary serous carcinoma has a sterile, almost arid sound to it. Stage 3C neither limits nor expands it. It just classifies it.

Grammy [many of you know her as Amy, the long suffering wife of Kevin Smith] was diagnosed with it and operated on in August, 2009. She lost her hair during the subsequent chemo-radiation-chemo cycle.

Caroline, our middle granddaughter, had her hair cut that Christmas just so she could say “I love you Grammy”. Not quite 10 inches of her light brown hair went to “Locks for Love”.

A tiny spot was discovered on Grammy’s lung this March past.

By May it had gone to her liver, her lungs, her lymph nodes, and her stomach. This time it was classified as Stage 4. There is no Stage 5.

She began anew her trips to the Chemo Café. There, the drip, drip of the man made poison was begun to stanch the flow of the other poison.

Caroline’s birthday is in April. She has a pool party in June hoping for better weather.

She told her mom that rather than presents for herself she wanted to raise some money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Grammy had told her that whenever she was feeling bad during her chemo she thought about the children getting their drip, drip at St. Jude’s. St. Jude’s makes it as easy as possible for these kids. St. Jude’s relies on people like Caroline to pay for the stuff that goes into the IV, into these kids.

Caroline got $775 at her party.

Now that I have your attention I ask you to continue her “It’s A Wonderful Life” moment.


Please send her a check payable to

St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital

Her address is

Caroline Hanson
2110 Country Brook Lane
Allen, TX 75002


Most of you know me as an acid-tongued curmudgeon who takes no prisoners. I have told many of you that I don’t seek to convert but, rather, I seek to confront. It is true that if I catch myself saying something nice about someone I bite down very hard on my lower lip. If that doesn’t work I picture myself in a 4 man shell with Michael Dukakis and Alpha Gump and the ghosts of Bella Abzug and Teddy Kennedy fighting for the 4th seat. Hillary Clinton is in the coxun’s chair, rope’s end in hand, trying to steer us clear of the never ending “vast Right-Wing conspiracy” shoals. That always gets me back to basics.

I promise to go back to being what I am known and loved for after this note.

Thank you,



Kevin Smith