From our Summer 2021 Newsletter, which you can read here!
Casting for Recovery, Absaroka Ranch, Dubois
It’s not just about learning to fish,” Mary Turney, program coordinator of Casting for Recovery, points out. “It’s about the medical and emotional impacts of having had a breast cancer diagnosis.”
Every summer, women with breast cancer come to Absaroka Ranch near Dubois to learn to fly-fish. Some are in treatment, others in recovery. Each has her own story. But as they learn about stream maneuvering, fly tying, and fish behavior, they also experience solidarity that many did not expect.
Most Casting for Recovery participants are not interested in a typical support group. Very few have ever attended one. But Casting for Recovery is not typical. The women who gather connect to each other by first connecting to nature. At the heart of the weekend’s discussions, meditations and celebrations is an opportunity to spend time outdoors with some of the few people who truly understand what a participant has gone through.
What else makes Casting for Recovery unique? It’s free. For women whose medical history may have cost them both time and resources, this is essential. And, as a Wyoming Community Foundation grantee, this truly life-changing experience is possible because of donors like you.
Changing Lives, Giving Back
Mary is proud to share stories of women whose lives have been changed by Casting for Recovery.
One participant, ”Vera,” arrived angry and aloof Her cancer had made it impossible to pick up her young child, and her bitterness was palpable. Her dark glasses and drawndown hood created a barrier to the other anglers. She avoided talking in sessions. When she did speak, it was with resentment.
Then Vera went out fishing with one of the guides. Mary recalls vividly what happened next. When Vera returned, she walked straight up to Mary. From her height of six feet, Vera reached down and clasped five-foottwo Mary’s shoulders. Looking Mary in the eye, she said simply, “I feel whole again.”
Vera now volunteers every year with Casting for Recovery. She and many others have become supporters of a cause they care deeply about. With your support of programs like Casting for Recovery, you have shared in Vera’s story, and in her passion for improving the lives of others.