Gathering Gratitude

You’ve Got to Ring That Bell

Ringing bells are symbolic and for more than just a loud clang. We ring bells to announce the hour of the day, congratulate newlywed’s, toll in solemnity, ringing the Liberty Bell for Freedom, call for assistance, use of cow bells to bring them back to the barn, the beginning and end of the school day, or the stock market. In olden days “ring up a bill on the cash register or give a “ring” to an old friend via the phone was a used in a different way. The bell rings for boxers to begin and end a fight or to go on to the next round. Ringing the bell can symbolize whatever you want.

Gratitude for the Bell

When I was a little girl, the sounds of summer were filled with pool splashes, ocean waves, giggling children, as well as bell ringing Jack and Jill ice cream truck that we could hear several blocks away. As it rounded the corner, we would run and scream out to tell them to “Wait!” Only to yell back again, “ Nevermind!” after Mom told us that we were not allowed to get ice cream because it was too close to dinnertime.

I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia during the early 70’s and one of the most craziest, fondest and memorable summer sounds, to me anyway, was the bell ringing by this guy that would drive up and down the streets in our neighborhood in his candy apple red truck which he fixed up it up to look like a fire engine. We lived on the corner of DiMarco Drive. He would pull up to the corner, ring the bell inside the truck and us kids would run out knowing it was time to go for a make believe fire truck ride around the neighborhood. For ten cents a kid, you got a ride and a piece of bubblegum to boot.

Now mind you, this was 50 years ago, so climbing in the back of his truck with no seatbelts with at least 6-7 other neighborhood kids , 10 if we squeezed in tightly, was no big deal. However, the most coveted seat was the seat next to the driver in the cab of the truck. If you were the lucky one, then your job was to ring the bell as the truck traveled street by street picking up more kids. Nowadays, the very idea of parents allowing a stranger to take their kids for a ride around the neighborhood is unheard of today. But for us, it was awesome.

The ringing of the bell was a Joyful noise . A sound of summer and a sound of fun.

Over the past 5 months, since February 2021, after a horrendous 2020 year with Covid, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. The unknow of how it would all turn out was terrifying. I was unsure of how concerning my cancer was, or the level of potential danger that lied ahead. I just knew that I had now become part of the statistic, which is 1 out of 8 woman, over the age of 50 will get breast cancer.

The whirlwind of finding the lump, biopsies, tests, meetings, surgery, multiple doctor visits, MRI’s, including 20 bouts of daily radiation, thus far, to which I exposed my top half to strangers has been quite the ordeal. All which tallied about 36 medical appointments within a 4 month span. The technicians , all so friendly, have gotten to know me and I them and each day we would count down our visit knowing that the last day of radiation would eventually come and that once I was done , I would get to “ring the bell”.

A rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, Irve Le Moyne, was undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer and told his doctor, Kian Ang, M.D., Ph.D., that he planned to follow a Navy tradition of ringing a bell to signify “when the job was done.” He brought a brass bell to his last treatment, rang it several times and left it as a donation. It was mounted on a wall plaque in the Main Building’s Radiation Treatment Center with the inscription:

Ringing Out
Ring this bell , Three times well. Its toll to clearly say, My treatment’s done, This course is run, And I am on my way!
— Irve Le Moyne

Ringing the bell, for oncology patients, is a ritual to signal the end of treatment. Not every facility encourages ringing the bell as it may seem inconsiderate to those who may not be getting better. While I get it, I do believe that bells can represent a joyous sound, It can mean the end of something like the end of a school day or the end of a boxing match signaling a winner, or sometimes just the end of the match. Some don’t always win the match but putting up a good fight is worth a ringing the bell too . Just like graduation is called commencement, most think of it as the end, but actually, commencement is the beginning of better things to come.

For me, Ringing the bell has meant the end of my radiation treatment, but it may also mean the beginning of hope and recovery. – possibly remission and maybe, just maybe, a cure. For those who have a harder hill to climb than I do right now, and whose treatment may not mean the end of their struggles, they too deserve all the bell ringing they choose to give self-kudos for going through such a difficult process.

Bell-ringing is not bragging. It can also mean “ make room for something new”. So last week when I was done my last treatment I DID ring the bell. Not only for myself but for those who can’t just yet. I will pray for you and hope that no matter what lies ahead for you all, you have given the fight of your life- you deserve to ring that bell.

And just like the ice cream man and the fire truck and all the sounds of summer - it is Joyful noise.

Annie