Mary Lynne Rigo

is honored with a Brick from Christina M. Rossetti.

Mary Lynne Rigo has been a Kansas resident (Wichita, Goddard, Conway Springs) off and on, for more than 25 years. She is a dutiful daughter to her parents Charles and Marion Rigo; a loving wife to her husband Dennis; the biggest fan of her daughter Christina, "son-in-love" Tim, son Vincent, and daughter-in-law Karen; and a caring grandma to Austin and Gabrielle Rossetti. She has faced a lifetime of challenges with hard work, a sense of humor, and a lot of hope that there are good times just around the corner. She is an everyday heroine.

Mary Lynne was born January 30, 1942, to Marion and Charles in Cleveland, Ohio. She is one of four children along with Martha Jean, C. James, and Robert Rigo. In her younger years, she was a reluctant student, a great dancer, and, at one time, thought her lifelong career would be as a "beauty operator." Much to her parents' dismay, she gave this up to marry her high school sweetheart, with whom she had two children, but a brief marriage.

For several years as a single parent, Mary Lynne sacrificed whatever necessary to make ends meet and to ensure her kids had all the essentials. All her decisions were made with the best interests of her children in mind, although some of them certainly conflicted with her own happiness. Mary Lynne has worked at a variety of jobs, from waitress, to school bus driver, to housekeeper, to parts manufacturer for a large aircraft company, but has recently returned to a calling she enjoyed many years ago nurse's aide. She loves her "ladies," as she calls the elderly clients, for whom she provides home care services. On many occasions, she goes beyond the call of duty and has been known to find people "on the street "and help them access care.

Mary Lynne was first diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 1980. In the next 18 months, she would undergo a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy, a hysterectomy, and later, re-constructive surgery. She faced these things like a true champion. The prognosis was not great at the time, but the excellent care she received and her positive outlook kept her cancer free for the next 17 years.

After spending a number of years caring for her elderly parents, Mary Lynne allowed herself, for the first time, to put her needs first and moved back to Wichita to remarry Dennis Robinson. That same year, she was diagnosed with the same cancer she had survived nearly two decades before. Again, she faced it with strength and determination. She has undergone radiation therapy, diet and lifestyle changes, and alternative therapies to "beat this thing" again. She brought humor and hope into the radiology waiting room, as much for herself as the other patients, by dancing around in those goofy white gowns and not allowing the fear, discomfort, and the down right unfairness of it all to get in the way of healing. At this writing, she is facing chemotherapy, once again, and, once again, with the same determination and positive outlook she's had all her life.

My mother is a true heroine because of her willingness to say "yes" to life, whatever obstacles it may bring. Her lifelong courage has been an inspiration to me and to many others who know and love her.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you.

June 23, 1999