 |
Greetings Family:
As
we continue to bring awareness to the breasts all of October, I cannot
stress the importance of doing regular self examinations, annual
mammograms and contacting your doctor as soon as you notice anything
"iffy" on or around your breast area. Study after study shows that
black women develop breast cancer at earlier ages, and have higher
mortality rates. If you are a black woman and that does not reinforce
the point, I do not know what will.
Back in the day, long
before I personally knew of any female who had breast cancer, a close
friend of mine was diagnosed. I remember it as if it were yesterday,
but it has in fact been 15 years. The summarized story is that we were
room-mates who grew very close. She left Jamaica to live in NY, I used
to visit her regularly in NY, and on one of my trips to NY, we had a
parting of ways and never spoke to each other for about two years.
Anyway, one day, out of the blue, she called me and said "Rosie, I know
we have not spoken in a while, but I wanted to let you know that I have
breast cancer and I am scared." I was literally speechless. It had
nothing to do with the fact that we had not spoken in two years. I
just could not comprehend how my friend who was in her early twenties
could have breast cancer at such a young age. WHAT?!!!!
That
life-changing event brought us back together and I continued to speak
to her offering support, prayers and encouragement until the day before
her surgery...I remember asking her to call me as soon as she got out
but sadly, I have not heard back from her since.
Fast forward to 2004... I decided to do a 39.5 mile breast cancer walk in her honor and my dear friend, Suzette Salmon walked
with me and soooooo many others. We had the rare "opportunity" to
fundraise at least $1800 each so that we could spend a weekend walking
with thousands of breast cancer survivors and persons who lost friends
and family to breast cancer. If you knew me at the time, chances are I
begged you for a donation! I was walking for my friend but mostly
walking off the frustration of not knowing if she was still alive. I
have done some pretty interesting things in my life, but that 2-day
breast cancer walk remains one of the most humbling, selfless and
spiritual events I have ever experienced.
This month especially,
I just want to personally send a virtual hug to all the breast cancer
survivors (females and males). I also want to encourage everyone else
to remember that early detection can save lives. Do NOT be afraid to
touch yourself even if your breasts are now at your waist (:-)
Happy birthday to all celebrating this week and early next week including Brian Devine, Sunshine Jefferson, Cherri Poet and Kuroji Ntu. Peace and blessings,
Rosie "Peppy" Parke
Creative Director
PEPPY ENTERTAINMENT & PROMOTIONS, LLC.
Meleesa Payne shines at Miss Tropical Paradise Beauty Pageant
There is something about Meleesa Payne
that demands attention. Maybe it is her posture, her natural beauty,
or just her quiet controlled confidence. Whatever it is, she is
captivating!
Being
a judge of the competition afforded me the privilege of spending time
with most of the contestants from Thursday night and all of them from
Friday onwards. Matter of fact, I met and traveled with Kareen Hutchinson
(who won the NY leg) from Miami to Montego Bay, and shared a cottage
with the three ladies who entered in the Jamaica leg of the competition
(Stephenette, Janice and Melissa). All the contestants were uniquely
different, beautiful and bright, but Meleesa's professionalism, star
quality and intelligence stood out from the moment I met her. It
totally went over my head that she was Miss Guyana 2007 - I actually
thought Oral was just calling her "Ms. Guyana" because she lives in
Guyana.
In
retrospect, I can see how the experience she has gained competing in
such a bigger pageant and gracing numerous runways set her apart from
most of the other ladies who entered Miss Tropical Paradise. Be that as
it may, the competition was a close one. To be hoarse from the many
pre-events and weather yet find the voice to give a solid response to
her introductory speeh and test question is no easy feat. Meleesa did
that and more on Saturday night. It was obvious that she came all the
way from Guyana for the crown...and she took it! Meleesa also won a
sectional prize for Best Gown - that gown was stunning. Way to go Miss
Guyana!
Congratulations to second place winner, Kristen Graham,
a student at St. John's University, who was equally
impressive during rehearsals and in general. She was mostly quiet
during many events and I did not get to rap with her much, but she
stood out in rehearsals and it was clear that she would be in the top
3. In my mind, it was between her and Meleesa! If there was a prize
for Best Body, I would have given it to Kristen, but all the ladies had
great bodies. Kristen also won the sectional prize for Best Swim
Suit.
Congratulations Kristen!
Third place went to the super-confident catwalk diva, Stephenette Watson,
who actually lives in Jamaica. Stephenette has the intelligence to be
a teacher, the swing to be an entertainer, and the voice to be a
spokesperson. Her energy is infectious and her passion is modeling.
If you see her on the runway, you will understand why her idol is Tyra
Banks. Congrats Stephenette!
Sherianne Bailey
copped the prize for Best Smile which was a pleasant surprise,
considering the fact that she hardly smiled all weekend and during
rehearsals. I guess she was saving her pearly whites for the big
night, because on pageant night, her smile lit up the entire stage. Her
swimsuit was gorgeous and such a great fit for her body and it was
obvious that she was having fun on stage.
All the other contestants are to be commended: Shanaleigh Mejia, Kareen Hutchinson, Teleka Bowden, Melissa Payne and Janice McDonald. Oral Welsham
from Barbados is a genius and he did excellent work in getting the
ladies prepared for the stage on Saturday. Stay tuned for another
report and the professional photos at my Blog spot and on the website.
On another note, special thanks to Ms. Marcia Deans, the CEO of MVD Promotions, Mr. Herb Binger, CEO and founder of Diabetes Research Association for A Cure and Mr. Tony Cobb for all the hard work and dedication that went into planning and executing this event.
Click here to get the rest of this newsletter!
Check me out on Facebook!
11:59 PM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|