When a New Year rolls around the tendency is to look back and reflect… to take stock and consider our losses and gains, our failures and achievements. Yet realistically, looking back may serve for a moment or two but ideally, it will become the motivator to initiate the action to make changes; to grow and evolve. I believe it is best to focus on the possibilities, to determine what inspires us knowing we have the courage and strength to enter the New Year with hope, faith, trust and gratitude!
My assignment this month is to spotlight a woman who epitomizes the goodness we respect, the courage we imbibe and the vision to stand up for what we believe is important. Her personal motto: “This Too Shall Pass.” She has used it a lot. Allow me to introduce Robin Roberts!
Under co-anchor Robert’s leadership, ABC’s Good Morning America has won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program. When not traveling around the world covering breaking news events, Roberts is at GMA’s studio in Times Square conducting interviews.
In August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast – a part of the country Roberts called home for most of her life – her personal and professional life melded into one. In the days following, she traveled to the hurricane zone and reported live amid the devastation of the storm.
Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2007. Her courageous and public battle has been recognized with awards and honors from organizations around the country. She published her first book, “From the Heart: 7 Rules to Live By” in 2007. An updated version of the book, including an additional chapter on her battle with breast cancer, was released in 2008. Just five years after the start of her fight with breast cancer, Roberts announced that she was battling myelodysplastic syndrome. She underwent a bone marrow transplant in September of that year; her sister Sally-Ann was a perfect match. Roberts’ story triggered an outpouring of support from across the nation. She joined forces with Be the Match to inform the public about the need for more donors, and since her diagnosis, tens of thousands of people have joined the registry. Roberts made her return to the anchor desk just five months after her transplant!
In 2013 Roberts was honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for strength and courage. Her memoir “Everybody’s Got Something” was published in April 2014 where Roberts shares the life lessons she continues to learn. She begins by saying, “Regardless of how much money you have, your race, where you live, what religion you follow, you are going through something. Or you already have or you will. As momma always said, ‘Everybody’s got something.’”
Following her mother’s advice to “make your mess your message,” Robin taught a nation of viewers that while it is true that we’ve all got something – a medical crisis to face, aging parents to care for, heartbreak in all its many forms – we’ve also all got something to give: hope, encouragement, a life-saving transplant or a spirit-saving embrace. As Robin has learned, it’s all about faith, family and friends… and finding out that you are stronger, much stronger, than you think.
May this New Year 2018 be an easy one, and may your own strength and courage be used to help others along the way.
Love, Liz