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FYI -- Alaric is a Que from Kent State University -- His wife is a
Delta from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

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Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sam Fulwood III
Plain Dealer Columnist
At first, Lenora Sawyer didn't want me to tell you her story.
She's a private person and believes that her burden is nobody's
business but her own.
"I'm not looking for anything," she said, emphasizing that she
doesn't want people feeling sorry for her or her family. "We're not
a charity case."
That's so true. Lenora is blessed, maybe more than the typical
woman who has death-dealing cancer cells multiplying inside
her body. Just the other day, for example, co-workers at Kent
State University's continuing education office surprised her with
a generous gift for Christmas. They had to surprise her because
Lenora wouldn't have tolerated it if she'd known in advance.
Then some fellow parishoners from Mt. Zion Baptist Church in
Oakwood showed up with another gift for her family.
Last Sunday one of her husband, Alaric's, fraternity brothers
arrived with a trunk full of food for the holidays.
"Things are getting out of control," Lenora said. "I'm so blessed
that I'm overwhelmed." So this isn't a sob story; it's a celebration
column. Lenora discovered she has breast cancer on Dec. 4,
2002. She remembers the date precisely because it was her
38th birthday. She's battled the disease, undergoing a radical
mastectomy and assorted other treatments. For a brief period,
she thought she was cancer-free, but the disease flared up
again in a lung. When her doctors, who aren't certain whether to
treat breast or lung cancer, suggested she take disability leave
from her job, Lenora refused. "Why should I do that?" she said.
"That would be like my giving up, and I refuse to give up."
Well before Lenora learned that she was sick, Alaric faced
challenges of his own. In 2000, after 11 years as the
superintendent of a state-run development center, he lost his
$83,000-a-year job to budget cuts and consolidations.
Alaric, 47, has a master's degree in public administration from
the University of Toledo. His education and work history helped
him land another job - paying $64,000 annually - as director of
adult services for the Board of Mental Retardation in Geauga
County. But that job ended in budget cuts last year.
Since then he's found work, albeit nothing close to what he's
qualified to do or that covers all the bills necessary to run a
household with an ailing wife and two young sons.
When I dropped by to meet Alaric, he was working as a security
guard at The Q, earning about $20,000 a year.
"I'm thankful to have this job," he said. "I was working part-time
here, but they have given me the opportunity to move into a
full-time position. I'm very grateful."
Alaric told me his wife is the family rock, refusing to doubt God's
grace.
"She proved that last night when we discussed whether to talk to
you," Alaric said. "Lenora said, 'I don't understand what's the
fuss. We're just doing what we're supposed to be doing.' "
Well, I think that makes them special. Their struggle proves that
the human spirit is indomitable.
Think of it as Lenora and Alaric's gift to everyone. That's why I
begged them to share their faith with you during this holiday
season.
So if you want to do something for them on Christmas Day, put a
little extra contribution in the collection plate for other people.
Then say a special prayer for Lenora and Alaric.
To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
sfulwood@plaind.com, 216-999-5250