Pit Crew?

     Most of you are familiar with how “The Pit Crew” got it’s name.  I’m reprinting the article Tom Rademacher  wrote as a reminder to some and explanation to our newest members.

       Bush league supporters

                 by Tom Rademacher

              Grand Rapids Press

                        November 1999

Friends rally behind woman during her radiation treatments.

     Every race car driver depends upon his or her pit crew.          

     And so it is with Jamie Carlson, a 39 year old Jenison woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer this past August and invented a way to both enlist support  from her friends and laugh in the face of adversity.

     Jamie and her husband Eric own Ervine’s Auto Repair in Wyoming and it was Eric, she says, whom she counted on as “my rock” when she learned of the cancer.  He had to rearrange his schedule for six weeks so that Jamie could go in the early morning for daily radiation treatments following a September surgery.                                         

The therapy helped tremendously, but the area subjected to radiation prevented Jamie from being able to shave her right underarm.

     That’s when she rounded up nearly a dozen female friends and asked them if they’d show their support by letting the hair grow under their right arms grow out too. 

I know what you’re thinking. Or maybe I don’t.Gross.

Too much information.

Eeew.

Hey, not around the holidays!

Friends Remember

But as you probably know, a lot of women don’t ever shave, not anywhere.  Custom and culture and personal preference dictate that  some woman would be as likely

to take a Lady Remington to their legs and underarms as they would a branding iron.

     In fact, I’ve learned since writing this piece that there are entire Web sites devoted to men who prefer their woman hirsute.

     Of course, most women from Jenison do shave, or so it’s my understanding.  So it wouldn’t have been out of line for one or more of Jamie’s friends to be repulsed to the point of not participating.

     Instead, they put away their blades and let it all hang out.  Or down, as was the case here.  They included Jamie’s sister Michelle Davis, as well as Erin Needham, Jane Reeves, Shirley Kelly, Cindy Johnson, Dawn Cole, Lorraine Miller, Patty Sabin and Sue Lewis.

     “At first it was kind of gross,” Sue Lewis acknowledged, “but it made me think of my friend every day during her treatment period.  And when I thought of her, I also prayed for her healing.

“In today’s busy world, I’m not sure I would have been as faithful in remembering.  “It also reminded me how lucky I am to have my health, and how prevalent and scary breast cancer is, especially when it’s in your back  yard.”

Swapping Stories

     This past Monday might, some of the group got together to celebrate the end of Jamie’s treatment sessions.  Meeting at an area restaurant—whose name I won’t divulge , and I’ll tell you why later—they traded stories of their “hair today-hair tomorrow” effort.

  They roared to trade reactions from their husbands, and went around telling of embarrassing situations their hairy pits put them in.

     One of the gals unwittingly went to a bra fitting clinic, and only remembered she was unshaven after disrobing.

     They applauded Julia Roberts, whose recent photo in a monthly magazine shows her with a bushy right underarm.

    And they complimented Jamie on devising a humorous way to help them remember her in their thoughts and prayers.

     And finally, right there in the restaurant, they decided to determine who sported the longest growth.

     One by one, they raised their sleeves and allowed the group a quick glimpse of their patch.

     Sue Lewis’ underarm cam out on top.  But the real winner was Jamie Carlson.

                               2002

                              2003

                              2004

                                 2005

                                   2006