Dear Mrs. Lacks,
After reading Rebecca Skoot's novel sharing your story and your family's story, I only have two words for you: I'm sorry. I'm sorry for humankind failing you and your family like they have so many others who have been taken advantage of, all in the name of the advancement of medicine. I'm sorry that you grew up in a time of segregation, a time where you didn't feel like you could speak up to doctor's about your own health. I'm sorry for the unbearable pain you had to endure in the last months of your life. Most of all, I'm sorry you were taken away from your kids and they didn't get to know what a wonderful human being you were. All the stories about you paint the picture of a loving, ridiculously selfless woman who cared about everyone, who took care of everyone. I'm sure that if you were asked, you would have given consent to use your cancerous tissue in research. In a perfect world, your family would have seen compensation for all the scientists selling your cells. They changed history and helped so many people. I know you would have been so proud of that, but I know you would have been as disappointed as your family in the manner that everything was handled. I'm so sorry.
READING UPDATE:
I finished another book! :) My 3rd book for the readathon and I started my fourth and got about a quarter of the way through it.
DAY 6 PROGRESS:
Eliza and Her Monsters [Physical] - 298 pages
Flame in the Mist [Physical] - 95 pages
TOTAL: 1157 pages
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