The Joyfully Crabby booster campaign provides donations to help build Olympia's St. Peters Hosp. cancer garden while providing support and encouragement to Joy and JoshJohnston while they navigate the turbulent waters of breast cancer treatment, surgery,and reconstruction.
Joy Johnston is such an inspiring person it is totally
impossible to not be happy when she’s around.
The first name “Joyfully” of this campaign obviously is taken from her
name with the emotion attached, which is completely appropriate.
The second part of the name is going to take a lot more
explanation ………….here goes:
It all started a couple years ago when she and her husband
Josh and their young son went “fishing” for Dungeness crab with her Mom and Dad
in law for the first time. You know how it goes (or can imagine), beautiful
day, wonderful time, and caught lots of crab. They came home and had a
wonderful time cleaning, cooking, eating, and relishing the afterglow of such a
wonderful day.
It was such a wonderful time that she wrote a poem that
describes it better than I ever could…….
Bounty
The world
is still, quiet
And we
are gently rocking
Above and
around it is blue: mountains and sky
And white: snowcaps and jet streams
We are
far from shore and farther from the city
Waters of
jade and emerald curl around our boat
Dark, opaque, lifeless
But that is a deception.
Wedged
between water and sky, we could believe
We are the only creatures enjoying
the pleasures of a sunny day.
Yet even
as the motor roars to life
Even as we weave rainbows in our
wake
We are
conscious that the salt we breathe and collect on our faces
Is only borrowed.
Below us
are whole civilizations
Darting, swimming
Scampering across rocks
Sliding
across sand
Speckled sanddabs, quillback
rockfish
Harbor seals, urchins
Limpets,
mussels, seaperch and sharks.
We know
this because as we lift the baskets rom the seafloor
To reveal
Dungies in our traps
Evidence of life clings to our ropes
and pots:
Magenta jellyfish
tentacles
Chartreuse eelgrass and
kelp
Sunflower seastars of
tangerine and plum.
So much
life hauled to our boat
Like the
Salish who began this sea harvest long ago
Back to
our ancestors
On the sundrenched shores of the
Mediterranean
On the frigid waters of the North
Sea
Pull by
pull
The wet rope coils at our feet
Until we bring the disoriented
creatures to the surface
Measure their size
Wrestle them as they
claw
Determine who is worthy
of coming home.
I see
their tiny eyes watching us
We are not a new foe
We have met over miles
Over centuries
Over
generations
Later, we
will gorge on tangled berries
We will light a fire
We will drink wine
We will
watch the stars above the lake
Our bellies full
Our hearts warm
And our limbs ready to
sleep.
As I look
to the distant shore while my son sleeps safely in his nonna’s arms
I know
This food
This family
This love
Will
sustain us long after
Our
hard shells are thrown spinning
Back
to sea.
Joy
Johnston
July 9,
2012
……………Back to the story.
After contracting that dreaded
disease, breast cancer, she thought about it and decided she needed a symbol to
help overcome the hardships and trials she and her family would face. It was
decided that it would be a Dungeness crab, not any crab mind you, but a female
crab. Female crabs are special, not
only do they provide the world with more baby crabs but they are especially
mean and tenuous and will fight and bite worse than anything in the sea. To add
to the symbolism of all of this the astrological symbol for cancer is a CRAB. What
more appropriate symbol to have on your side in a fight?
PLEASE COME JOIN OUR BOOSTER GROUP BY PURCHASING A T-SHIRT
OR SWEATSHIRT AND SHARE THE SUPPORT FOR JOY AND HER FAMILY BY BEING JOYFULLY
CRABBY TOO!
Proceeds
go toward the Healing Garden for cancer patients at Providence St. Peter
Hospital in Olympia (where Joy lives). This outdoor rooftop area on the 3rd
floor of the hospital will provide direct access to nature and a healing
environment for patients and their families. The approximately 3,000
square foot area is intended to enhance patients’ well-being, while
demonstrating a commitment to spiritual and emotional health. Including design,
materials and construction, the project is estimated at $200,000, plus ongoing
maintenance. Joy learned about the garden after a three-day stay in the
hospital in December. Appreciative of the care she received, she wanted
to do something to give back to her community and provide for others in their
own cancer journey.
Supporters
In Love and Support of Joy and Josh
Support for Joy and Josh, and all those battling cancer
The Johnston's are some of our best friends in the world and we want to support Joy and this cause with our donations.
Josh and Joy we are behind you and love you both!
For two good causes -- to recognize Joy's good fight and to support the garden.
It's a wonderful way to recognize our niece and her "strong" personality-- and to help support the garden at the same time. Thanks for designing the shirt.
Joy is my friend and inspiration and when the cancer is gone, I will have this shirt as a reminder of how she kicked its butt.