kathy arroyo

© van ditthavong

We met in the fall of 2007. She was in the midst of her battle with breast cancer. At that time I was working on a project about the women of The Bridge Breast Network... The Bridge saves lives by linking low income, uninsured individuals to diagnostic and treatment services for breast cancer. What I remember about that afternoon was how Kathy would say how helpful and caring her neighbors were. We talked about her family, her treatments, our crummy healthcare system, and which hospitals and doctors would tell her - sorry you're dying but we can't help you cause you don't have insurance.  But she wasn't angry or mad.  She was grateful... to The Bridge, to her family, and to her friends and neighbors.  Kathy passed away last month - and I am grateful for the chance to have spent a lovely afternoon with her.