My Hobbies
My Hobbies
When your life changes drastically, you sometimes have to find some new things to take the place of things
that you are no longer able to do.
For the first few weeks in the hospital, all I could think about (when I wasn't too sick to even think at all) were the
things that I couldn't do anymore, and my dreams of the future that would probably never come true. But then I got bored
with that, so I tried to think up some new things that I could do, and that I could achieve.
I started to collect pig figurines (if you say it right, Oncology sounds a little bit like Oink Ology!). My new friend
Alice taught me how to do needlepoint. My older brothers gave me a great cassette deck with lots of country western tapes.
My younger brother Michael (who I tried my best to ignore before I got sick) gave me a handheld Sega video game with lots
of cartridges, and then patiently taught me how to use it . The craft lady at the hospital taught me how to do a lot of
neat things, and I started to write poems and draw pictures about some of my feelings and thoughts.
Here are a few of the things that I became interested in after I got sick.
Car Racing
Last year, I drove a quarter midget race car. Now I'm not strong enough.
Crafts
Cross-Stitching, Rug Hooking, and more ...
Writing Here
are some of the poems and stories that I have written.
Drawing I
draw on paper and also on my computer.
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The "Me" Page Find out some more things about me.
Return To My Home Page I hope you enjoyed my hobbies.
Quarter Midget
Cars
When my cancer relapsed in August of 1995, they pushed me around the track in my brothers car for my
"final lap". But I was determined to drive by myself again, so after the Western Grand National Races I got my Dad to
strap me into a race car, I put on a helmet, and to everyones surprise, I went out and drove. After that scary episode,
some of my friends at the track re-taught me how to drive smoothly with my sore back, while some others built me a
beautiful car of my own. During the next couple of months I drove in several races, and had lots of fun. When I wear a
helmet, visor, and heavy leather jacket, and then drive very fast, nobody can see that I look any different than the other
kids who are racing. And the other racers sure don't treat me any differently!
This is a picture of me in the quarter midget race car that some of the members of the Langley Quarter Midget Association
built for me last year. It is called the "Gruntmobile" because I love pigs, and I have collected over 100 small pig
figurines over the past two years.
This is a close up picture of me in my quarter midget race car. If you look closely, you can see the names of some of
the people who built it for me. Thanks people!
Here is a picture of my brother Michael getting ready to race in his beautiful Stanley "Bounty Hunter" car.
Unfortunately, someone rolled him over in the Grand National Championship Races last year and his car got pretty badly
damaged. That is my Dad working at the back of the car.
A typical first lap. The car in the middle is turning in for a pit-stop while the other cars drive carefully by at 60
kmh. ;-)
Craig tries to gain an advantage by passing on the corner ... inside and upside down!
A bad picture of me in a wreck. All of the corner workers are coming to my aid!
The LQMA Home
Page Visit the Langley Quarter Midget Association Home Page.
Return To My Main Hobby Page
Explore another one of my hobbies.
Melinda's
Crafts
Before I got sick, I did a few crafts. But while I was in hospital for so long, I needed
something other than TV and video games to keep my mind occupied.
A good friend of mine taught me how to do cross-stitching, and after a couple of raggy starts, I soon began to really
enjoy creating special pieces to give to my nurses and to my friends (some people are both!).
Here are a few samples of my work, and also a link to a wonderful homepage about needle crafts.
Melinda's Dad finished this page for her.
A little cross-stitched gift that she made for our family.
A rug that she hooked to go beside her bed. It's about 4 feet long.
A picture made out of pins and coloured string. It took her just a few hours to do this!
A cross-stitched card that she made for her Dad, Christmas 1995.
A cross-stitched card she made for her Brother Michael, Christmas 1995.
A cross-stitched card she made for her Mom, Christmas 1995.
Melinda's signature as it appears on the back of nearly every craft that she made.
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My Hobbies page Check out some of my other hobbies.
Poems And Stories
Most of my poems and stories are about very personal things and feelings that are too painful for me to put up on the
WWW right now. Maybe later, my Mom and Dad will pick out a few that they think are OK and then put them up on the Web for
other Cancer Kids to read (just so they can see that they aren't the only ones who have sad thoughts that race through
their minds). My Dad has written some good stuff about the thoughts and feelings of parents, but he has the same thoughts
as I do about putting it up on the Internet right now.
However, my Dad and I did decide to put up a few of my poems that he really likes. Here they are:
You Can Count On Me.
I wrote this poem just after one of my friends died. I didn't believe him when he told me I cried all night long "To the very last hour You made your third birthday I was there when you died "To the very last hour The day you were buried I now come to visit you I love you Nico.
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
When Melinda learned of the return of her friend, Michael Cuccione's cancer
In your darkest hour, in your deepest despair
This poem was very inspirational for Michael. Even though the reality Wired
The final version of this poem was completed by Melinda and her Dad
But even though my eyes
And with my ringing ears
My breath may come slowly,
And with someone else
Please remember that all of the poems and stories on this page are
I am not the best artist in the world ... I really try to draw what I feel, and not necessarily what I see.
Like my poems and stories, most of my drawings are too painful for me to put up on the WWW right now. However, until my
Mom and Dad decide to put some more of them up, here are two of the drawings that my Dad likes the best.
Flowers
The flower with all the petals and leaves on it is the healthy flower. It has a sad face because it is raining. The
wilted, bald flower is the cancerous flower. It may have no petals or leaves, but it is happy to be there even if it is
raining.
The healthy flower doesn't know how lucky it is to be alive and have all its petals. All it is worried about is the rain.
This is true in real life as well. When I was getting my chemo in the hospital I would lay there and listen to what
people were complaining about, and I would think to myself "If that's all you have to worry about then you are doing
pretty well". People would act like it were the end of the world if the fan was blowing too hard on them, or if they
would get home in time for dinner.
But I was worrying about whether I would get better, or would I die?
The "Thank You" Bears
In early 1996, Melinda was asked to draw a series of "Thank You" Bear pictures to be used as special awards for
Children's Wish Foundation of Canada corporate fund raising events.
This particular bear picture was awarded at the 1996 Corporate Charity Cup golf tournament, and was featured on the
front of the widely circulated flyer for the event.
Please remember that all of the drawings and notes on this page are
He and I spent almost five and a half months in Children's Hospital together.
The poem I wrote is from his mother's point of view, and is what any mother
must feel like when her child is diagnosed with cancer.
All dreams were shattered
All wishes were lost
When the doctor came in
And told me what you had.
That you wouldn't live
To even be three.
How could my baby die so soon?
Right there by your side,
And when you awoke
I knew just what I would say.
To the very last day
To the very last second
You can count on me.
You don't have to worry
With your hand in mine.
Cause when it's time to go Home
I'll be there by your side."
And a few months beyond.
I stayed every day,
And all night long.
I was mad and upset
But I'd kept my promise
Just like I said.
To the very last day
To the very last second
You can count on me.
You don't have to worry
With your hand in mine.
Cause when it's time to go Home
I'll be there by your side."
I cried all day long.
Life as I knew it
Was now almost gone.
With the new baby too
And I pray every night
That God is being good to you.
and the treatments he had endured, she wrote the following poem for him.
We will be frioends forever and I'll be there.
Through your accomplishments and frustrations
You will not be alone, you'll be in my heart.
Because we're friends forever, through thick and thin,
Even if we have to start all over again.
There is a war to be won and believe me it won't be fun,
You have to be strong in order to overcome the wrong.
Through our anguish and our pain,
Through our joys and sorrows,
All in the promise of another tomorow.
You can never give up, keep on fighting!
of what he was going through was far more than
he had anticipated,
the moral support of those who cared for him was giving him the strength to
endure his struggles.
early in the evening
of September 15th, 1996. They had been working on it sporadically
for about two or three weeks before.
I am a wounded child
Temporarily trapped
In the technology
Of modern medicine
May be clouded
They can still see
Far beyond the horizon
I can hear images
That nobody else
Knows are there
Sometimes fed to me through a mask
But the air is clean
And so very cool
Holding the pen
I can still write poems
And hope that they finish
Before the end.
Copyright (c) 2008 by The Estate of Melinda Rose Hathaway.
Any proceeds go directly to cancer research.
Drawings
Copyright (c) 2008 by The Estate of Melinda Rose Hathaway.
Any proceeds go directly to cancer research.