Dorret Conway

Forget-Me-Not

Sometimes life comes up from behind and deals you a nasty blow. Even though we are faced with tragedies daily, it still doesn’t prepare us when it happens. A very close friend from my teens died in February this year. She battled with breast cancer for 3 years and the fight in itself was more than you would want to see someone you care about go through. Even so, I managed to convince myself that she would beat it.

Helen and I both did The Moonwalk in 2003, and we raised funds as a result of our efforts. Exactly 1 year later, Helen found a lump and was diagnosed with the disease. It was a particularly aggressive form of cancer and although she found it “early” it spread to her liver and her bones. After extensive treatment, they discovered multiple brain tumours.

I will be taking part in The Moonwalk again this year but this time I will be walking in Helen’s memory. I can still see her as a girl of 17. Beautiful, intelligent, full of life and full of fun. She never lost that spirit. She got a mini for her 18th birthday and her boyfriend “pimped her ride” - sports steering wheel, fat tyres, body trims and painted shiny black. She married that boyfriend! They were still married up to her death this year, and have 3 beautiful daughters.

I thought it would be nice to have a knitted theme for my bra for the event. I came across some Noni Poppies and it inspired me to contact Nora Bellows of Noni Designs. Nora very kindly ageed to design a flower specifically for Breast Cancer Research.

The Forget-Me -Not is the result. And I know Nora has worked hard to have the pattern ready so that the knitting enthusiasts amongst you who are doing either the Edinburgh or London walk this year can make and wear a Noni Flower.

This is Nora’s message:
“When Dorret contacted me with her request to decorate her bra with flowers for the Moon Walk, I immediately saw an opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for some time—create patterns and then donate the profits to breast cancer research. This season it is a flower and in the Fall a special bag. My grandmother had breast cancer and because of the disease I never knew her. I am enchanted with the idea of women wearing decorated bras as they walk to support breast cancer research. The forget-me-not seemed like a perfect choice: it is a delicate-looking plant, though tenacious in spirit and keeps blooming in spite of sometimes difficult circmustances. The Forget-Me-Not seemed like a perfect choice: it is a delicate-looking plant, though it is tenacious in spirit and keeps blooming in spite of sometimes difficult circumstances.”

I know that the minutes’ silence just before the Moonwalk begins at midnight on June 17th will have a particular significance for me. I hope you will buy the pattern and knit the Noni Forget-Me-Not for yourself or for someone you love. I will be covering my bra with 1 flower for each year of Helen’s life.

If you buy a pattern, (use the store locator to search for a stockist) all of the profits will be donated to breast cancer charity Walk the Walk in the UK and Susan Shamen Foundation in the US.

I hope to see the Noni Forget-Me-Not along the route. And if you see me, please say hello!

Best wishes

Dorret