Providing support for breast cancer survivors has been a mission for Celeste Bush the past 20 years.
Now, the group she founded, One or None, is ceasing operation.
“Our attendance has dropped to 10,” she said. “I just decided that it has served its purpose. I just told them I was not going to do it anymore.”
Bush, 79, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991.
“On the anniversary, I’d say, ‘I’ve lived one more year.’ I did not think that I would live,”
she said. “After six years, I said, ‘Gosh, I’m going to live.’”
However, Bush’s friend, Kate Fisher, did not survive breast cancer.
“She was such a good friend when I first had it. She would call me, and we would just talk,” Bush said.
Thus, the concept of One or None was born.
“I realized that women just needed to talk about breast cancer,” she said. “You can’t talk about it with anybody else. People don’t understand. My husband did not. I have boys; they didn’t understand. I thought, ‘I’m going to organize a group of women.’”
Bush started taking notes and jotting down names and decided to have a luncheon at her home.
“I had a list of 35 names that I invited, and 29 or 30 came out to my house. We had a good time eating and talking,” she said.
Bush asked the women if they would like to form a breast cancer support group, and they said yes.
“We decided to meet once a quarter on the third Thursday of each month,” Bush said.
Mary Evelyn Maxwell suggested the name One or None, and “we all thought it was the cutest name and we agreed to that,” Bush said.
Initially, the women went to various restaurants. They eventually settled on a private room at the Crystal Grill as their regular meeting spot.
Bush said a core group of about 20 of the women became close.
“It was just like a group of good friends meeting for lunch. We didn’t have a program,” she said.
Typically, the meetings would start with a devotional followed by a prayer. After that, “we’d go around the room, and if anybody wanted to say something, they could,” Bush said.
The group made an impression on its newer members. “They were just so impressed when someone would say, ‘I’ve been a survivor for 25 years or 35 years,’” she said.
The oldest member of the group, Jane Pickett, is 90. The youngest ones are in their 30s.
Although the group has lost longtime members such as Shirley Rice, Nell Ashcraft, Lewis Smith, and Beulah Bardin, Bush said, cancer deaths are not the reason for the decline in active members. Rather, she said, “I think they lost interest.”
Increasingly the responsibilities for the group fell largely on her, and it took time to organize meals and send out the notices.
Bush said she’ll look back on her years with One or None with fondness.
“I enjoyed it. So many people have told me how much it meant to them,” she said.
When Bush announced her decision to step back from the group, the other women thanked her for her service.
Bush said it is important for breast cancer survivors to keep a positive attitude.
“You’ve just got to take one day at a time, live that day, trust in God and get on with your life and don’t dwell on having breast cancer,” she said.
•Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
