Noah Edelstein
Many of you recognize these familiar words from an old time Gospel Hymn. Trinity Congregational Church, UCC, in Winter Haven has a member who lives these words every day of her life.
Cathy Robinson Pickett’s story has appeared in the Lakeland Ledger (May 17, 2003) and People Magazine (May 19, 2003). She has told it in Florida Schools, colleges and universities. She has been invited to speak to Congressional Committees and yes, even in some churches.
Just what is the story that on July 2, 2003 prompted Florida Governor Jeb Bush to designate Cathy a “Point Of Light” for community service? It is simple, moving and timely. It is Cathy’s story and she began telling it in the 1990s.
As a young woman of 19 Cathy was raped and beaten by three men while she was working at a convenience store. This terrible experience in and of itself would, for most, be a life altering experience. It didn’t end there however.
Spin the clock forward seven years. Cathy is now married and expecting her second child. A routine blood test (not routine when Cathy was raped) discloses that she is HIV positive.
Time again moves on and Cathy developed full blown AIDS. Neither of the two children are HIV positive. She says, “You have to make a decision. Do you mope or make the most of the time you have left.” Cathy decided NOT to mope.
Nine years ago AIDS was considered a rapid death sentence and Cathy prepared by writing letters to her children about the milestones in their lives that she did not expect to share with them.
Since 1992 Cathy has been speaking out about the disease. Trying to get people to understand that, “Only men, women and children get AIDS.” She travels more than 70,000 miles a year educating people about this disease and informing them that since she was infected, more Americans have been lost in this battle than in Desert Storm, Viet Nam, Korea, and WWI.
In Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays With Morrie”, Mitch asks Morrie, who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, what he thinks about the Bible’s story of Job. Morrie answers “I think God overdid it”. In 1999 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and stopped taking her AIDS medications. She was given eighteen months to live. That didn’t stop Cathy! "That was three years ago," she says. Divorced from her first husband, she wed Friends-Together director Steve Pickett, in June. "1 should be dead," says Robinson. "But not only am I alive, I'm actually living."
She has co-founded the non-profit Friends Together organization, which provides weekend camps for families coping with HIV: "She doesn't ask for pity," says Will Gregory, a professor at Florida Southern College. "My students fall in love with her."
I sat with a small group made up of Cathy’s friends and family at Florida Southern College on July 2, all of whom had “fallen in love with her”. We were there to see her presented with the “Point Of Light” award. As you might expect if you knew her, the acceptance talk contained remarks of how her “Friends Together” organization could do more if they had more.
Trinity is truly blessed in having Cathy Robinson Pickett as a member of our congregation . She is a real example of one who lets their light shine.
Find out more about Friends Together at www.friendstogether.org.