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About Us
The web site mission Moments with Mary wants to make available and help improve the lives of those seeking hope, faith, facts, and the sharing of knowledge by those whose lives and families are or have been touched by any life threatening illness such as breast cancr, heart disease, or the many other life threatening illnesses. We want to enlighten one another through the many trials and tribulations that follow serious illnesses to help not only the patients but their families and friends. Through the awareness of education as well as providing support and update information, inspirational material, learning to become a more positive thinking person, and by reading and sharing true stories about real people, hopefully we can empower the mind, body and soul.
About Me
Hello my name is Mary D. Johnson. I was born on September 11, 1947 in Flint Michigan. I’m the oldest of four children. I spent the first 10 years of my life in a small town on a farm in Flushing Michigan. In the summer of 1957, my father was transferred to the state of Arizona where our family lived for the next 14 years. I graduated from high school in May of 1965 with advanced classes in business, home economics, and teaching skills to work with special children. Being only 17 when I graduated, I decided to go to work for Motorola a semi-conductor plant working third shift and taking some college courses the company offered during the day. This was one of the way's to advance within the company, and a way for me to better myself while getting my college education paid for by the company. During the next five years at Motorola I advanced in all 52 departments and held a certificate in all but two departments. Starting out as a line assembler in production I worked up fast to an upper management position, as a lab and quality control inspector for the company.
Then on August 26, 1966, at 7:26 A.M. I was involved in a terrible car accident where I lost my life for 26 minutes. That day my life turned upside down. The next five years I had to learn about a whole new way of living. I was in a coma for 20 days. I would need much needed surgeries and would be in and out of hospitals until my broken body was fully mended. I went back to work as soon as I was released from the doctor and finished my classes and missed work only when taking my vacation days, or paid holidays. Sometimes it was hard to cope with all the medical treatments and the schooling, but I did finish the classes and got through the surgeries. During all the surgeries and repairs to my body I became interested in medicine. While watching the doctors fix my broken body and reconstruct a whole new face during the next six years, I learned to take one day at a time. I went from a face without scares, to a face I no longer recognized, to a body with no problems to one with many.
However, through all of this, I was shown the beauty of death and no longer feared death as I did before my car accident. In the years that followed I was able to share some of my having lived experiences with the wonderful people God brought into my life. I also have had the rare opportunity to see how we as a society treat someone with a pretty face and how we sometimes treat others who have been born with or have developed an imperfection through no act of their own. I learned that children are honest about the way we look or the way they see things, where adults tend to cover up and hide from honesty. The next several years I went to work and to school hiding from most of the world because of all my scars and imperfections.
On July 5, 1968 I married a man whom I went to school with back in the fifth grade. A man who seen me for who I was now, not who I use to be. Tom, my husband assured me not to worry about the scares on the outside, because he loved me for the heart I had on the inside. He stood beside me through many surgeries and was always there to give me support. This helped to make things easier.
We tried starting a family several years after we were married but each time it ended in a disappointment. Finally, after losing two boys both to a miscarriage, on July 26, 1971, I gave birth to a healthy daughter our only living child. The birth was very hard and again I lost my life during child birth for 17 minutes. I hemorrhaged for days and had to stay in the hospital for an extra week, then bed rest for almost a month after the birth. The doctors explained why I shouldn't get pregnant again; my body had been through so much and wouldn't be able to with stand another pregnancy. We treasured our little girl, she meant everything to us. We promised ourselves I wouldn't work until our daughter started school. We knew how important the first five years were, and I thank God for allowing this to happen.
In June of 1972 we moved to Lebanon,
Missouri we wanted to raise our daughter in a small wholesome town. We only had one chance at becoming good parents and raising our daughter was our top priority. Teaching her values and letting her experience living on a farm, showing her how to grow a garden, work with animals, and learn about helping and doing for others. Both we and our daughter learned much about caring for others and what a good lesson it was for each of us. We helped take care of our parents for many years due to their life threatening illnesses.
Then in December of 1978 I went to work at a garment factory, to help pay for my mother-in-law's funeral expenses. The everyday challenges at work were fun. I enjoyed working with the people and soon I moved up from assembler to a management and supervisor position. The company offered to send me to school to learn the many aspects of the company. I was like a sponge trying to soak up all the knowledge the company was offering me. I loved my job but I tried to never let my job interfere with my family or their needs.
In December 1979 I found a lump in my right breast and had to under go immediate breast surgery, the old time radical mastectomy. The lump was the size of a pea when I found it, but it grew to the size of a large orange within 10 days. Now at the age of 32, I was facing cancer, a disease I knew nothing about. My cancer was the fast growing type. Nobody in our family ever had cancer so none of us knew very much about it. Only that many times people die from it.
The doctors told me to get my affairs in order; I might have six months to a year to live. I took a deep breath and knew I had to fight another battle. I didn't believe in drugs but decided to take what the doctors offered me, which was the hard chemo for two long years if I could make it that long. The treatments were 3 weeks on and 1 week off. With God’s strength and many prayers, I did get through my chemo working everyday. Those two years were rough and sometimes almost impossible. My family was there for me and I fought with every ounce of life to conquer this dreaded disease. Sometimes the fear would try to take over, but I promised myself to never let that happen. This sickness became another stepping stone in my life. I knew there was a reason to still live and I used my mind as a weapon against the illness. I would not give into this terrible disease.
My goal was to help others who might be going through the same thing that I was facing everyday. Back then cancer was not a subject many people talked about. I think people thought they could catch the disease from just being around you. I wanted to learn and teach others about this disease and let them know that their mind was very powerful and by having faith, and helping others, we many times help ourselves. That became my new mission in my life. I wanted to live and see my daughter grow up and grow old with the man I loved and married. All three of us worked together, my husband worked with the spouses for he knew just how they felt, my daughter worked with the children who knew better than her how scared a child can feel through such an ordeal, and I worked with the cancer patients. Each family handles things in a different way and not all people handle life threatening illnesses in the positive mode. To some it is a death sentence, to others it is mass confusion and then there are some people who don’t and won’t share anything, they want to handle it in their own way and that's okay too.
In 1981 we helped set up a monthly support group called, Make Today Count a place for people to go and talk about their problems or share their stories about their life threatening illnesses. That same year I started writing for the monthly Make Today Count Newsletter. This was a newsletter that people could read and share every month. There are real life stories, poems, thoughts, and update information to help someone, somewhere, at sometime. The MTC newsletter now can be read on my web site www.moments-with-mary.com
In 1984, I wrote and published two songs with BMI. One song was called, “Today is Precious” and the other song is called,” Let’s Make Today Count for You and Me.” The words came to me in the middle of the night. We had the songs published and the records were sent as a gift from me and my family throughout the US and to four foreign countries. St. Jude's hospital put the record in their library and the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield, Missouri used the songs for their grand opening. I have worked with Reach to Recovery, The Cancer Society, and teaching BSE to woman and young teens for many years. Today I still work with women’s groups of all ages and each spring and fall try to donate some of my time to an adult cancer camp known as Camp Bluebird in Missouri. I have NEVER forgotten the promise I made to God and myself years ago. I will always be there to help others as long as I can. God Bless all of you and I hope you enjoy our web site, Moments with Mary.
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