Established in 1989 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the law that established lighthouses in the U.S., this day now recognizes and supports lighthouses and their preservation.
Two of my favorite lighthouses:
At Lighthouse Point in New Haven...
The Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard.
OK, honestly, I really don't have a whole lot of interest in lighthouses. I think they're cool and all, but I'm no fanatic.
What I like is the cancer connection. There are a bunch of groups, support organizations, etc. for cancer patients and their families that have "lighthouse" in their name.
Fascinatingly, I recently saw a blog post from a cancer patient that asked why the pamphlet she received on radiation therapy had a lighthouse on the cover. She was stumped as to why there would be one there, and asked for commenters to explain. I'm not going to link to the post, because her commenters didn't do a great job of explaining the connection. (They seem like an angry group. I'm not judging. Cancer does suck, after all.)
I suppose the light beam on a book about beams of radiation is a little ironic, and possibly upsetting.
But I choose to see them for what they are to many cancer patients -- a symbol of hope. A beacon of light in the darkness. A guide through rocky waters.
And finding a seemingly random bit about a kind of random "holiday" when I was searching for something completely unrelated, I'm going to ere on the side of serendipity and just take it as a reminder that on a tough day, when there are lots of things to worry about, it's nice to have a little ray of hope.
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