Way back in the early 1960s, there were no such things as social media, the Super Bowl, DFW International Airport or even cellphones. Schools were teaching cursive writing and parents were trying their best to shelter their youngsters from the cold, hard realities of the adult world that included the Cold War, a presidential assassination and civil rights unrest.
But these well-meaning parents and teachers couldn’t prevent a cruel reality from hitting a class of middle schoolers in late 1963 because of one of their classmates — a gal by the name of Susan Finney. She’d had the audacity to run for junior high student council president. To put it mildly, that was unheard of for a female in those days. Still she thought she’d give it a try. While she didn’t win her race, there was a greater challenge up ahead for her and her classmates when she was diagnosed with something called osteogenic sarcoma, a rare bone cancer known as “osteosarcoma.”
As hard as it was to even pronounce, explaining “the problem” was challenging even for adults. So little was known about the childhood cancer. During their final year in middle school, her classmates started noticing that Susan was having more and more doctor’s appointments, eventually resulting in hospital stays.
As the class graduated from middle school and started 10th grade at the nearby high school, Susan managed to have her picture taken for the yearbook. The smile and twinkle in her eyes were still there. As she faced the challenge, she missed more and more school. It was when some visited her at home after an operation that the stark reality hit. The operation had been to amputate part of her leg and now she was leaning on a crutch. And that pallor was making it all too evident that Susan and her family were losing the battle.
The daughter of Mary and O.J. Finney, the bright-eyed girl died on March 30, 1965. In most cases, her classmates experienced their first loss of someone their own age, their first funeral, their first time confronting the reality of death.
Over the years, Susan’s mother would continue to volunteer at Scottish Rite Hospital. But still the words “Your child has cancer” are just as raw for parents now as they were for Mary and O.J. in the 1960s. Luckily, thanks to research, development and funding, today there are far better outcomes.