She was probably the most decent, honest, kind, intelligent woman we’ve ever met. The only thing she wasn’t good at was telling us she had a lump in her breast. She went years without ever saying a word for fear she’d burden us with the news.
When we first found out our Grandmother, Babci, had breast cancer, we decided to give her a journal. Not because we thought she was going to die soon, but because she had an incredible memory and so many great stories to tell. We figured it would take her years to write them all down, so she’d better get started. How many episodes of “Matlock” and “In the Heat of the Night” can one person watch?
Unfortunately, Babci wasn’t very good about writing in the journal regularly, and we could kick ourselves for not checking her progress before she passed. She did start out, though, with something fairly accurate “…To write about my life is a difficult task — even to myself.”
The four of us could say the same thing when it comes to describing our hero, our Babci. There is so much to say that to narrow it down to a few paragraphs would be a “difficult task.” Anyone who knew Hedwig Rezem knew what she stood for. She was probably the most decent, honest, kind, intelligent woman we’ve ever met. The only thing she wasn’t good at was telling us she had a lump in her breast. She went years without ever saying a word for fear she’d burden us with the news. We are convinced she would be alive today if she had simply said something.
She was such an incredible woman that even the fact she was a Nun didn’t stop our Grandfather, Dziadzie, from pursuing her at the convent and singing “You Are My Sunshine” ad nauseam from the street corner. He was killed in 1979, and for the next 14 years, Babci talked about him as if he were still there. Babci died on a Friday in May of 1994. It was a day we’ll never forget. However, it gave us comfort to know that she would finally be reunited with the singing funeral director who, for years, was her husband.
This page and our walk are dedicated to Babci and everyone who had the fortune of knowing her. We walk in her honor and in the honor of all those who have bravely “said something” and fought the battle of cancer. We extend a heartfelt THANK YOU for supporting us in what is sure to be a memorable weekend. Your contribution, be it big or small, helped us reach our goal to make a difference in this fight for life.
Granddaughter
Tara’s Stepdaughter
Granddaughter
Granddaughter
Melanie spent four years at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., where she met her husband, David, whom our family has dubbed “The Saint.”
Dave and Melanie both made their way up to Boston in 1995 and have been living in Boston’s North End since 1996. In March, Melanie and her family moved into the North End’s first firehouse that Dave has been renovating for the last 2 years. Melanie is currently enjoying life in the city raising their two children (Carlo-8 and Lucy-4), volunteering in the community and school and escaping to the Green Mountains of Vermont whenever possible. The walk this year is especially meaningful to Team Babci as it falls on the 19th anniversary of their Babci’s passing.
Alex graduated from ASU in 2010 and now has a great job as a headhunter for an I.T. firm in Scottsdale. Alex graduated with honors from Arcadia High School (in Scottsdale, Ariz.), and excelled at journalism, even attending a summer program at Northwestern University. In her spare time, Alex likes to exercise, hike, travel, and watch "Game of Thrones." Alex has been waking up an hour early to get a good workout in daily, so this Avon walk shouldn’t be a problem!
Tara followed her dream of being in television news and hosted the #1 rated show “Good Morning Arizona” in Phoenix for 15 years. She left in 2011 to pursue her dream job of her own travel/enterainment/sports show. She’s working on that now and doing fun freelance gigs with Fox Sports Arizona and others. She got her degree from Boston College, which enabled her to go back and forth between Boston and NYC to visit Babci at Sloan-Kettering during her cancer treatments. Tara went on to receive her Master’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism at the Medill School of Northwestern. Tara lives in Arizona with her hot husband Kenn and her three amazing stepchildren, Dane, Dylan and Alex, who is an ‘honorary member’ of Team Babci this year! She’ll be walking in Boston as well. Tara enjoys travelling, kiteboarding and spending time with her family.
Tara with support system, Dane, Dylan, Alex and Kenn!
Since the last Team Babci walk 2011 Santa Barbara, CA, I got married September 22, 2012 to Allen VanDeVusse (our Santa Barbara 2011 walk official flip flop holder) and we are currently enjoying our life in the jersey suburbs in Hillsborough, NJ. I work as a guidance counselor in a high school and I helped coach the girls varsity basketball team this season. Babci's old beach house has a special place in my heart and I was so happy to be married in the town of Mantoloking where the beach house is located. Fellow walker and cousin Melanie's daughter Lucy was the flower girl:) Mantoloking was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, but Babci's beach house as well as my parent's house next door all survived and we will continue to make great family memories at the NJ shore. I look forward to the walk every other year, all of us catch up on each other's lives as well as help to make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.
- Rachael VanDeVusse (previously Rzemieniewski)
We all know that there’s strength in numbers, so it’s with great strength that we’ll work and walk toward putting an end to the suffering caused by breast cancer. We each have our reasons for participating — whether it’s a personal fight with breast cancer, the struggle or loss of a loved one, or a deep commitment to the cause.
We’ve each made a big commitment. We’ll spend the next few months training to prepare for a walk of up to a marathon and a half. Each team member is required to raise at least $1,800 in donations. But because we’re in this together, we know that, with your help, we can do it.
Please support our team. You can make a donation to any team member by clicking on their name above, and you’ll be taken to their personal page. If you’d prefer to write a check, just contact one of us and we’ll send you the form and information. Thanks in advance for your support!
Please support our team. You can make a donation to our team by clicking the link below!
You can make a donation through the Avon Foundation website.