During a recent Saturday’s rehearsal, Steve Schuette, the assistant director of Voices of Hope, asked me to put together some words about why I sing with the group set to perform at Wentz Concert Hall at 3PM on Sun., April 28.
I said that two years ago a member of Naperville Men’s Glee Club invited me to join a choir called Voices of Hope. He’d heard me perform at a “Singing for Seniors” Concert and knew my husband Jon Ripsky’s history of beating the odds with esophageal cancer. Jon had an esophajectomy in 2007. Surgeons removed two/thirds of his stomach and about 80 percent of his esophagus along with 44 lymph nodes. Survival rate is 15 percent for five years and he is approaching his 12th year as a survivor.
Jon has mentored many other patients over these years.
Jon also had an aortic valve replacement four years ago, struggles with A-Fib and lung infections, and just this past February had three stents placed in his very big and loving heart. I call him my “Miracle Man.”
Why I sing…
I sing to honor those who battle cancer around the world and also specifically to honor my husband Jon and my mother, Rita Powers, who battled colon and breast cancer. With the medical help and support she received from Dr. Fari Barhammand, oncologist, and his wife, Barbara Barhammand, Mom lived 21 energetic years after her first diagnosis at age 71 despite three bouts of cancer.
“Dr. B,” as we call him, also serves as Jon’s oncologist. At each checkup, they exchange recipes not only for meals to serve their families, but also recipes involving lots of horse manure for just the right fertilizer for their gardens.
This year I am also singing to honor the work of Fari and Barbara Barhammand as Fari retires this April 30 after serving the community since 1980. Barbara has worked tirelessly at his side in the practice and will continue to work in the Hematology/Oncology office.
Barbara and her team have organized the annual Cancer Survivor’s picnic for decades.
In 2017, I became part of this most powerful choir, Voices of Hope. I met wonderful inspiring singers. We have become good friends. Many are cancer survivors, others are caretakers. We are fortunate to have Naperville Men’s Glee Club (NMGC) invite us to join them every two years for this special concert, directed by NMGC founder Bonnie Klee Roberts.
NMGC Voices of Hope / 3PM Sun., April 28
This year the Voices of Hope concert will take place at Wentz Concert Hall at 3PM on Sun., April 28. The music is as uplifting and inspiring as the people I have come to know in the choir!
The Wentz is located in the North Central College Fine and Performing Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., just steps from the heart of downtown Naperville. Tickets are $18 for Adults, $15 for Seniors and $12 for students.
One more thing: Lou Petriz from Busey Bank came through with a $250 donation to help defray the cost of free tickets for cancer survivors. Thank you.
—Jeanne Ripsky
To date, Voices of Hope chorus has gathered in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Organizers say each concert was highly successful in enabling a broad spectrum of survivors, patients, caregivers, and family members of individuals touched by cancer to join in song.
Tickets are $18 for Adults, $15 for Seniors and $12 for students. Cancer survivors are free with a reservation. Group rates are available. For ticket information, call (630) 448-0518. The mail box address for ticket orders is Naperville Men’s Glee Club, 931 W. 75th Street, Suite 137 #149, Naperville IL 60565.
For more information about the Naperville Men’s Glee Club, visit www.napervillemensgleeclub.org.
