Dad and I always considered ourselves lucky.
Lucky that Dad had lived the life he always wanted with no regrets. Lucky that we had services available and people around us that prioritised quality of life. Lucky that the team at the Andrew Love Cancer Centre preserved his hope to live on his own terms.
In between the chaos of diagnosis, treatments, appointments and side effects we found ourselves sitting in the Wellness Lounge at the Andrew Love Centre - a space that feels so much more personal than clinical. Tea and coffee available, comfortable couches and massage chairs - so warming and cosy you’d temporarily forget you’re waiting on results. On the walls are yoga classes, mindfulness sessions and support groups.
As the years went on and the melanoma took over, we found ourselves in a different waiting room and then finally at home with Palliative Care.
From the outset, Dad wanted to stay at home for as long as possible and this was only made achievable because of the resources available at Barwon Health and the Andrew Love Centre.
There’s a whole lot of truth in that it’s hard to appreciate initiatives until you find yourself in circumstances needing those resources yourself. Cue: the Dry July Foundation. Dry July is an amazing initiative that helps raise funds across Australia for cancer services, and has become one of my favourite ways to give back to our community through the brand.
Community is at the core of Celia Loves - it’s a non-negotiable part of our brand DNA and we live and breathe it daily. It’s because of our community that we’ve been able to host epic workshops and create feel-good mystery bags where all the profits go to the Andrew Love Centre via Dry July.
Last year, with the help of our beautiful community of besties, we raised and contributed $10,653 towards Billy's Frothy Fund - absolutely slaying our initial target of $5,000!
This year we dug even deeper and dreamt up some *extra* fun ways of giving back. We kickstarted our Dry July Month by hosting a sell-out workshop with the fabulous Louie from Digby Cakes, which allowed us to donate our first $1,000!
We levelled up again by launching our first ever Celia Loves mystery bags with the insanely generous help of all our favourite local brands. The way these FLEW off the shelves was next-level, and if you were one of the lucky people that scored one of our mystery boxes - THANK YOU 💛
My driving force has always been passing power back to the patient, as there is so much power and dignity in patients being able to live in accordance with their own terms. For us, it was the small but incredibly freeing immediate access to a walking frame. I cannot express the immense gratitude for this resource and the truly life-changing impact it had on Dad.
If you want to sacrifice one day’s coffee and swap it for a donation to our Dry July fundraiser, you can DONATE HERE. You probably don’t need that second (or third) coffee anyway…
Finally, a note to Dad, may he have access to this website wherever he may be.
My world may be shining less brightly, but I know the world is lit up with all the love and joy you poured into my universe in my lifetime. And yes, sometimes I forget to turn the lights off before bed and I’ve missed bin night once, maybe twice… But when your voice feels like it’s fading, I playback my favourite moments with you. Missing you dearly xx