Katie Christensen, who most in Strathmore may remember as Katie Dye, lost her mother Kathy Dye in 2007 due to ovarian cancer. When Kathy was battling cancer, she made what she called Sunflower Bears to help her through her own journey, and also support other cancer survivors. The bears were sold and the proceeds were donated to the National Ovarian Cancer Association and to the Tom Baker Cancer Center.
15 years later, Kathy now has 5 granddaughters — one of whom is Katie's two year old daughter Bryn — who sadly never got the chance to meet their grandmother. While nothing can replace the tragedy of losing a loved one to cancer, the Sunflower Bears still exist as a way to connect with Kathy, which led Katie on a search to bring some back home.
"Many members of the community were given these bears as gifts, and then since she passed away, these guys have always just been very special and important to our family. Recently, I've been trying to get some Sunflower Bears back into the family so that each grandchild can have their own, and have something that was important to their grandma. They were always around when we were growing up, she was always making them and they're very important to our family," she said.
They're called Sunflower Bears because sunflowers are the official flower for ovarian cancer. It was also Kathy's favorite flower.Photo Courtesy: Katie Christensen
While she was hoping for five bears, Katie understood that she may not be able to get them, as it's been 15 years since they were last made, and the ones that were left could be very special for the people who had them, as some of them were Kathy's friends or people going through their own cancer journey. However, Katie received a wonderful surprise after posting on Facebook about it.
"We never expected so many people would reach out so quickly and offer to give their bears back to the family, it really meant a lot. It was amazing. Our whole family is so grateful for the support from the community of Strathmore."
The community response was so fast and strong that Katie actually turned comments off on her post and started declining some people's kind offers.
"We already had three bears at that point, and we didn't want to take any more. We don't need any more bears. We would love to take them all, but we don't want to take bears from people that we know that they mean a lot to."
Suffice to say, Katie immediately reached her goal of five bears: one for each of the grandchildren. She even received one extra in case another grandkid is born into the family! Katie and her family currently live in Edmonton, but there are plans to get the bears on the way soon.
"Our family is just so grateful for everyone who shared the post, commented, shared memories of our mom, and for those who donated bears back to our family. It's been so amazing for the support and we're so grateful for it."
Photo Courtesy: Katie ChristensenSend your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@strathmorenow.com
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