My wife Polly and I visited the Cancer Survivors Park in Jacksonville, FL on the day before my last of 39 radiation treatments at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute. The park is on the route we took to the treatment center so we drove by it each day on the way to treatment.
On this next to last day of treatment, we took the time to visit and linger in the park, absorbing its message of hope. The sculpture by Victor Salmones is awesome in its portrayal of the anxiety that comes with diagnosis of cancer, the determination and resolve that comes in doing battle to defeat cancer’s effects and the joy of relief that comes when one feels they have emerge victorious from that battle. The feeling expressed in the sculpture compelled me to step into it at the point of emergence from battle, about ready to dance the steps of joy. …Our visit to the Cancer Survivors Park was one of the delightful experiences we will always remember.
Thank you for the work you do in providing such wonderful places for those afflicted and affected to contemplate, reflect and celebrate.
— Tarry Edington