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Mother + Daughter "Relay For Life"
Mother-daughter team brings message of hope - Duo to perform at June 3-4 Relay for Life event in New Milford
Filed under: Relay for Life 2005 - American Cancer Society — Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle at 12:47 pm on Friday, March 25, 2005
By Donna Cooper O'Boyle
Contributing Writer
March 25th, 2005 • New Milford Times
Louise Loya Mayne and her daughter, Alyson Mayne have been singing together since Alyson was a little girl. Nicknamed the "Dynamic Duo," the two women put their voices together to inspire hope for cancer victims.
They sang at the opening of the American Cancer Society's New Milford Relay For Life last year and have been invited to return for this year's event, to be held June 3-4 at Canterbury School.
The single mom and her daughter have faced some huge challenges together, including Ms. Mayne's battle with cancer. When her daughter Alyson was 13, the then-35-year-old single mom was experiencing abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss. She went to a doctor and insisted on tests, including a mammogram, to find out what was wrong—in spite of the doctor's claims that she shouldn't worry. She was right. Ms. Mayne distinctly remembers the day following her mammogram when she received a call from her doctor, telling her, "Get in here, you have cancer."
She had known something was wrong, but "Cancer was the farthest thing from my mind," Ms. Mayne recalled. "They told me I had six months to live—and with treatment, [I had] a life expectancy of 10 years."
"I almost fell off my chair," she said, upon hearing the shocking news. Major surgery immediately followed, with two and a half months of further treatment.
Prior to her own ordeal, no one in the family had had cancer. Then, Ms. Mayne's mother was also diagnosed.
At 35 and 59 years old, "we were both in total shock," Ms. Mayne recalled. "We took turns taking care of each other during our surgeries."
A year later, Ms. Mayne required further major surgery. Sadly, her mother's cancer eventually returned and she died in 1996.
In spite of her guilty conscience as a cancer survivor, Ms. Mayne said she tried her best to stay positive and get better while raising her daughter.
The heartache due to the loss of a loved one didn't end there. Ms. Mayne recently lost a friend, Steven Collins, to pancreatic cancer. These days, when she feels the guilt creeping in she said,"I think of my Mom and Steven and I know they would want me to be happy and live life to the fullest. They would say, 'Keep going, live out your dreams.'"
And Ms. Mayne has many dreams she is planning to live out. She has her masters degree in education with an emphasis on the arts, and she enjoys teaching children. She has played roles in "Jesus Christ, Superstar" and "Godspell" at local theaters, and plans to do more acting. She is writing and illustrating children's manu__s_c_r_i_p_ts, which she hopes one day will be published, and also believes in the healing power of humor. To that end, she is working on what she calls "a humorous memoir novelette."
Ms. Mayne especially loves the relationship she has with her daughter, Alyson.
She has been telling her over the years to pursue her talent for singing. According to Alyson, she discovered her voice at the age of eight as she sang to a radio song in her bedroom.
"My mom busted in my room, excited I could sing and gave me a big hug," she said.
Auditions, voice teachers, musicals, and dance school followed, all with the support of her mother.
"I was very much influenced by my mom, who took me to all of her music and acting classes and all of her concerts," Alyson Mayne remembered.
She graduated from the "American Musical and Dramatic Academy" located in NYC, and has had leading roles in musicals and now writes original music, following in her Mom's footsteps.
Most recently, Alyson recorded her first CD single in Manhattan, titled "Hands that Save" which will be released to radio stations soon.
Ms. Mayne is excited that her daughter wants her to be involved in her musical career, and that she has invited her to sing harmonies along with her on her CDs.
"It's such a blessing to be able to sing with my daughter," Ms. Mayne said.
This year, Louise Loya Mayne celebrates 15 years of life after her first cancer surgery. The pair are excited about performing once again at the New Milford Relay for Life.
"If we can give hope to others—that's wonderful!" Ms. Mayne said.
The Relay For Life in New Milford will be held June 3-4 at Canterbury School in New Milford, and members of the community are encouraged to attend and participate by forming teams or volunteering.
If you or someone you know would like to be spotlighted in this series, please contact Donna Cooper McCarthy at DCooperMcCarthy@aol.com. For information on volunteering or forming a team, call Sharon Kaufman at 860-354-4318.
4/22/2008 6:59:31 PM
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