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High school students walk for their mom
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| The late Rosemary Gelzer, left, stands in the sun with her daughter Cassandra, who will walk in her honor at the June 6 ÒWalking With Our Neighbors for Our NeighborsÓ cancer walk in Hudson. (Contributed/ Hudson-Catskill Newspapers) |
Cancer walk to take place June 6
By Jamie Larson
HUDSON — Brother and sister Bobby Smith, 17, and Cassandra Gelzer, 16 will walk in support of the fight against cancer June 6 in Hudson, with pictures of their mother proudly displayed on their shirts. The disease took the teens’ mother, Rosemary Gelzer, in March after a six-year fight, and Cassandra’s father three years before.
“We’re going to represent,” Bobby said.
On the 6th, The Healthcare Consortium will host the “Walking With Our Neighbors for Our Neighbors” cancer walk to raise money for the Columbia County Cancer Fund. Every dollar raised by the event will stay in Columbia County to help families coping with cancer diagnosis. The event will start and end at the Hudson Riverfront Gazebo at 8 a.m.
Bobby and Cassandra, both students at Hudson High School, will be joined at the walk by many members of their family, as well as friends who share their struggle from The Warriors, a group of Hudson youth brought together by the Healthcare Consortium and Hudson High social worker Deb Kelsey.
The Warriors came up with their own name. Each child in the group has a parent who has died of, or is currently afflicted with, cancer. They meet once a week at the Hudson Opera House to do activities and crafts. Kelsey says it’s not about kids talking about their problems, it’s about doing things together, and that facilitates sharing and healing. The Warriors go on trips and even give back, serving food at the Hudson Salvation Army soup kitchen.
Cassandra used to hang out with The Warriors a lot, but she hasn’t gone in a few months. For Cassandra, the death of her mother is still difficult to talk about.
As she sat in Kelsey’s office in the high school Wednesday, she flipped through pictures of some Warrior events she and her mom attended together. She talks about the things they used to do, the way Rosemary was, but she cringes a little every time Kelsey says the word “death” or “gone.”
“It makes it easier, having Bobby around,” she says, soliciting a teasing shove from her brother, who sits next to her.
Bobby talks more, he’s got a lot of confidence for someone who’s the new kid in school. He moved to Hudson from North Carolina — where he lived with his father — last year to spend time with Rosemary. He says school is much more challenging here. He doesn’t hang out with The Warriors, but joked that he would if they got NBA tickets. He also says he thinks they do good work.
“It’s cool, because they let them do what they want,” Bobby says, but adds it can’t make the way they feel go away: “It helps out some, but we have to do it for ourselves.”
Cassandra told Bobby there’s stuff The Warriors do that he would like, like when they went to the A.I.R. rock gym in Albany. “Pooty got stuck in one of the caves,” she laughs, talking about her older sister Courtney’s son, who is their age.
Bobby and Cassandra have been living with Courtney, her husband, Herman, and their kids in Hudson for some time now. When Bobby talks about his older sister he smiles and looks up from the pictures on his lap.
“I love my older sis,” he says, looking a little taller. “She’s strong, she’s the backbone, she’s the strongest, she keeps us together. There’s so much I want to do for her, like take her to dinner or a spa or something. She’s the perfect role model.”
The way their sister treats them reminds them of their mother. “Yes lord, that’s mommy up and down,” Bobby says, shaking his head.
Cassandra says all the little things are the same. “She wants us to go to school,” she says, “the way she cooks, the way she cleans, the way she yells.”
Cooking is big. The kids have a large extended family in the area and when they get together they eat. The kids joke with Kelsey about the first time she ate their mother’s sweet potato pie and couldn’t put it down, and how she thought you had to cook collard greens for nine hours.
“Why would you think that?” Cassandra asks, smiling, as she throws up her hands.
Bobby’s favorite food is the way his mother made cabbage. She was always cooking something good, he says, and Courtney does all that stuff now. Bobby says he loves to cook, too, and when he grows up he wants to go to culinary school or be a cook in the army.
Cassandra says she wants to go to school for forensics some day. She wants to figure out why people die.
Rosemary will be out in force June 6, on the chests of the people who loved her. They will walk with others with similar stories and the same feeling of loss.
Cassandra and Bobby are not unique. They share their emotions with anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer. They will walk on June 6, in the hope that someday fewer people will know how they feel.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
By Jamie Larson
HUDSON — Brother and sister Bobby Smith, 17, and Cassandra Gelzer, 16 will walk in support of the fight against cancer June 6 in Hudson, with pictures of their mother proudly displayed on their shirts. The disease took the teens’ mother, Rosemary Gelzer, in March after a six-year fight, and Cassandra’s father three years before.
“We’re going to represent,” Bobby said.
On the 6th, The Healthcare Consortium will host the “Walking With Our Neighbors for Our Neighbors” cancer walk to raise money for the Columbia County Cancer Fund. Every dollar raised by the event will stay in Columbia County to help families coping with cancer diagnosis. The event will start and end at the Hudson Riverfront Gazebo at 8 a.m.
Bobby and Cassandra, both students at Hudson High School, will be joined at the walk by many members of their family, as well as friends who share their struggle from The Warriors, a group of Hudson youth brought together by the Healthcare Consortium and Hudson High social worker Deb Kelsey.
The Warriors came up with their own name. Each child in the group has a parent who has died of, or is currently afflicted with, cancer. They meet once a week at the Hudson Opera House to do activities and crafts. Kelsey says it’s not about kids talking about their problems, it’s about doing things together, and that facilitates sharing and healing. The Warriors go on trips and even give back, serving food at the Hudson Salvation Army soup kitchen.
Cassandra used to hang out with The Warriors a lot, but she hasn’t gone in a few months. For Cassandra, the death of her mother is still difficult to talk about.
As she sat in Kelsey’s office in the high school Wednesday, she flipped through pictures of some Warrior events she and her mom attended together. She talks about the things they used to do, the way Rosemary was, but she cringes a little every time Kelsey says the word “death” or “gone.”
“It makes it easier, having Bobby around,” she says, soliciting a teasing shove from her brother, who sits next to her.
Bobby talks more, he’s got a lot of confidence for someone who’s the new kid in school. He moved to Hudson from North Carolina — where he lived with his father — last year to spend time with Rosemary. He says school is much more challenging here. He doesn’t hang out with The Warriors, but joked that he would if they got NBA tickets. He also says he thinks they do good work.
“It’s cool, because they let them do what they want,” Bobby says, but adds it can’t make the way they feel go away: “It helps out some, but we have to do it for ourselves.”
Cassandra told Bobby there’s stuff The Warriors do that he would like, like when they went to the A.I.R. rock gym in Albany. “Pooty got stuck in one of the caves,” she laughs, talking about her older sister Courtney’s son, who is their age.
Bobby and Cassandra have been living with Courtney, her husband, Herman, and their kids in Hudson for some time now. When Bobby talks about his older sister he smiles and looks up from the pictures on his lap.
“I love my older sis,” he says, looking a little taller. “She’s strong, she’s the backbone, she’s the strongest, she keeps us together. There’s so much I want to do for her, like take her to dinner or a spa or something. She’s the perfect role model.”
The way their sister treats them reminds them of their mother. “Yes lord, that’s mommy up and down,” Bobby says, shaking his head.
Cassandra says all the little things are the same. “She wants us to go to school,” she says, “the way she cooks, the way she cleans, the way she yells.”
Cooking is big. The kids have a large extended family in the area and when they get together they eat. The kids joke with Kelsey about the first time she ate their mother’s sweet potato pie and couldn’t put it down, and how she thought you had to cook collard greens for nine hours.
“Why would you think that?” Cassandra asks, smiling, as she throws up her hands.
Bobby’s favorite food is the way his mother made cabbage. She was always cooking something good, he says, and Courtney does all that stuff now. Bobby says he loves to cook, too, and when he grows up he wants to go to culinary school or be a cook in the army.
Cassandra says she wants to go to school for forensics some day. She wants to figure out why people die.
Rosemary will be out in force June 6, on the chests of the people who loved her. They will walk with others with similar stories and the same feeling of loss.
Cassandra and Bobby are not unique. They share their emotions with anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer. They will walk on June 6, in the hope that someday fewer people will know how they feel.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
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