76-Year-Old Harrisburg Resident Fights Cancer in a Tutu

Meet Barbara Dwyer: mother, daughter, sister, neighbor, friend, stage 4 pancreatic cancer fighter. If I told you she was feisty and spirited, we’d barely scratch the surface. 

Long-time resident of Harrisburg, Barbara spends much of her time exploring this city – walking its streets, wandering its shops, and getting to know her neighbors. I am almost positive I have met someone new 99% of the time I have spent in her company. Barbara has shown me what it means to love the place you live – to love the place is to love the people.

I met Barbara shortly after placing a dog walking flyer in the lobby of my building. She called one day and explained to me she was in an uphill battle with cancer and needed some assistance walking her dog. That’s all it took – one dog walking flyer to change the scope of what Harrisburg embodies to me.

Anyone who’s ever met Barbara can testify to the soul-filled woman who’s made us feel more alive in the few minutes or hours we’re with her, than we have in most of our life. 

If it’s mid-day and I pop in unannounced to eat lunch with her, she welcomes me. If I stop in with a cloud of emotions, she lets me breathe a sigh of relief. If I text her asking to dress up in a tutu for a photo shoot, she reminds me I’m crazy and yet happily obliges. And then doesn’t bat an eyelash when I order ‘fuck cancer’ tees to pair with our skirts.

I wanted to find a way to capture the happiness Barbara has brought into my life to selfishly keep it forever, but to also share it with you. Thanks to photographer Bobbi Phelps and Harrisburg home-owner Marc Kurowski, you get to experience a small glimpse of what Harrisburg looks like through my eyes. Because truth be told, you haven’t experienced Harrisburg if you haven’t seen my girl Barbara’s smile looking back at you.

I started to fully understand what it means to say age is just a number when I became best friends with someone 50 years older than me. If I knock on Barbara’s door with a Blue Moon, – her beer of choice – we’ll end up talking until it’s past both of our bedtimes. And when a new post goes live for Cherishburg.com, Barbara gets her email notification and then notifies our entire building. 

When Barbara agreed to a photo shoot, I scurried to find a place to have it – something light and airy, and definitely indoors. I’d recently posted a picture of my – and everyone else’s – favorite Front St. home to which a follower told me they knew the owner. When the dots started to connect, I reached back out to that follower for the owner’s contact information.

With a strong wish to get sent to voicemail, I called home-owner, Marc Kurowski, who answered on the third ring. Just my luck! But indeed it was my luck because Marc not only opened his home to us but he shared his personal firsthand experience with cancer’s tolling effects. Our community is connected on levels we don’t even realize. 

Marc is currently fundraising for the Lukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year award. This philanthropic competition raises funds for blood cancer research in honor of local children who are blood cancer survivors. Marc’s 10-week campaign kicked off on March 8^th, and if inclined, you can learn more or donate at the link here until May 17^th.

It’s crazy how one dog-sitting flyer and a phone call to a stranger just one block over can more intricately piece together the puzzle that is our Harrisburg neighborhood.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – find a way to reach out to your neighbors. Put on your big girl tutu and don’t look back. 

p.s. If you didn’t already know, I love you Barbara!!