 On the boardwalk in Point Pleasant sits a bench which is dedicated to the life and love of Carmie Brady. Inscribed on the bench are the words, "Laughing, Loving, Caring", words that sum up the life of this remarkable woman. Whenever people talk about Carmie, the first thing that they mention is her loud and somewhat infectious laugh, her caring personality, and the love that she shared with everyone with whom she came into contact.
At age twenty eight, Carmie overcame certain death upon the birth of her first son. Her brain was dangerously swollen and she was convulsing wildly. The doctor held out little hope that she or the baby would live. On that morning, a beautiful red rose bloomed on a five year old bush that had never bloomed. On that morning a beautiful child was born. Carmie was subsequently blessed with two more children.
At age thirty five, Carmie was told that she was in the last stage of a rare form of cancer and that she had two months to live. The cancer was inoperable. Inflammatory breast cancer consists of thousands of tiny cells which would metastasize if incised. Braced by an unyielding faith and love for her family, Carmie endured through six months of chemotherapy in hopes for a miracle. Finally, the doctor called and told her that he could not explain why, but that the cells had rolled up into a ball and that the cancer was now operable. Throughout all of her pain and suffering, Carmie continued to laugh, love and care for her friends and family. She worried more about others than she did herself. Following the operation, the doctor uttered in amazement, "The cancer had disappeared before my eyes. It turned to what I can only describe as a glue-like substance. Wherever the cancer was, there was no cancer. I literally had to chop off her breast. It was as if a miracle was taking place before my very eyes."
Throughout her year of long sessions of chemotherapy and radiation, Carmie continued to laugh, love and care for others who were fighting cancer. As soon as the doctors declared that she was cancer free, Carmie left her job and enrolled in graduate school to get her Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling. She was certain that God had kept her alive in order that she could devote her life to helping those who were seriously ill. Carmie devoted the rest of her life to bringing her laughter, love, and caring passion to others.
At age fifty, Carmie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Despite all of her pain and suffering, she drove forty minutes to the Health Center and forty minutes home so that she could share her love and caring nature with her seriously ill clients. During all of that time very few people knew that she was dying. She continued to laugh, love, and care for all who needed her.
Carmie passed away on May 21, 2004, but her spirit lives on in the Carmie Brady Foundation, which was founded by her friends and three sons in order that seriously ill people will continue to hear her laughter and feel her love and caring passion.
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