An unusual scene emerged in the Utah State Capitol Rotunda Thursday.
At the center of this busy legislative hub, with lawmakers and lobbyists barrelling past, a half-dozen people walked a slow meditative path on a painted pattern beneath the dome. Soothing music from marimbas and wind chimes echoed off marble walls and drifted up to the dome overhead.Early in the morning, before her day as a lawmaker began, Rep. Marda Dillree, R-Farmington, was one who walked the labyrinth painted on canvas in her own personal acknowledgement of Cancer Awareness Day.
The labyrinth, with its roots in ancient history, intended to represent a pathway, a symbol for transformation, and for Dillree and other cancer survivors who walked the path Thursday, the labyrinth became a metaphor for life.
It was one of several ways lawmakers and several health groups brought attention to Cancer Awareness Day at the Capitol in an effort to promote education about the cancers that will be discovered for the first time in 5,300 Utahns in 2000.
"As I walked through the labyrinth, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I'm still alive," Dillree said. "It was definitely a calming experience, but also raised a lot of emotions."
Later, Dillree successfully sponsored a House resolution to promote insurance coverage of cancer screening.
The labyrinth was included in the Cancer Awareness Day activities as a way for participants to experience what it is like to walk the path of cancer recovery, said Julien Puzey, chair of the event. "It is here to quiet your mind. It puts you in a flowing kind of state."
Puzey, also a cancer survivor, painted the labyrinth. She said watching people walk through the labyrinth makes an impact on legislators in a way a picket sign could not. She chose to have the 3rd annual Cancer Awareness Day at the Capitol after Senate Pres. Lane Beattie, R-West Bountiful, attended the funeral of her mother, who died of cancer five years ago.
"We must be aware of the need of early diagnoses," Beattie told a crowd gathered for the event.
Sen. Robert Montgomery, R-North Ogden, noted that he had worked with hundreds of cancer patients in his years as a surgeon. "My heroes in life are these cancer survivors."
Many lawmakers have taken part of Dillree's journey through cancer with her. Last year, she rose from her chair on the floor of the Utah State House of Representatives, pulled the white surgical mask from her face and led the chamber in a moving tribute to cancer victims and survivors.
Dillree, who was diagnosed in 1997 with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Dillree underwent chemotherapy soon after. The treatment appeared to wipe out the cancer cells. But last fall after attending a cancer march in Washington, D.C., she discovered more lumps on her head. A biopsy confirmed the cancer had returned and that it was spreading rapidly.
She got a stem-cell transplant just before last year's legislative session but worked through anyway.
Last year, on cancer Awareness Day, she acknowledged cancer sufferers among her colleagues, and recognized Rep. Ray Short, R-Holladay, who was hospitalized with cancer during a legislative session several years ago.
She asked for anyone who'd had a spouse with cancer to stand. More lawmakers stood. Anyone with children? A few more. Parents with the disease? Still more. Grandparents? Nearly everyone was on their feet in the emotional illustration of how cancer touches many lives.
On Thursday, Dillree tearfully acknowledged Rep. Judy Ann Buffmire, D-Salt Lake. Both of Buffmire's two daughters have fought cancer. One daughter lost the battle this summer.