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Marlo Thomas | 11/24/2008 4:00 am

Marlo Thomas on Her Father's Other Children

Courtesy of Marlo Thomas

Around this time every year, I start hearing from friends who tell me they just saw one of our St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Thanks & Giving spots on TV. Or on an airplane. Or in a movie theater. Or on billboards and about a zillion banner ads on the Internet. And they ask me about my bond with the hospital, which my father founded 46 years ago.

Click here for photos of Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas and more at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In our house we weren’t allowed to take phone calls during dinner; but my father was allowed to break that rule if a call came in from St. Jude. And I’ll never forget when he came back to the table, he’d sometimes have tears in his eyes, because a little boy named David “didn’t make it.” Or he’d be beaming, because a little girl named Amy was “going home at last.”

My sister and brother and I would always wonder: Who are these children? And why are they so important to our Daddy? It wasn’t till after my father was gone that I think we really understood his passion for the children and their parents.

For me, that came when I visited St. Jude a few months after he died. Because this would be my first visit since his death, I was afraid to go inside, afraid of being overcome by the wave of memories of all the times I’d been there with him. I just sat in my car in the driveway and cried.

Finally, I pulled myself together, and when I walked into the hospital, I saw a party going on. Kids in paper hats. Ice cream and cake on the table. Balloons everywhere. Lots of happy noise.

I asked a nurse, “Whose birthday is it?”

She said, “Oh, it’s not a birthday party. It’s an off-chemo party.”

Here were all these little kids celebrating and deriving strength from another child’s turn for the better. And all the parents had tears in their eyes. If this child had made it, they thought, maybe their beloved child would, too. That was the moment I understood.

My sister and brother had their own epiphanies, and though we had always “helped out” with St. Jude over the years, in 2004 we began to think about conceiving a national program that could raise millions of dollars. We didn’t want to just raise funds with our program, but raise awareness, too. So that moms and dads and grandparents of sick kids would know that there was a place to turn when no other place knew what to do.

We wanted our program to take place at a time when families are together, so we chose Thanksgiving. Each year St. Jude launches its annual “Thanks & Giving” fund-raising campaign. This is our fifth year! It’s a very exciting campaign, an unprecedented coming together of some of the country’s most famous brands and companies, media and celebrities, in which we ask holiday shoppers to “Give thanks for the healthy children in your life, and give to those who are not.”

11 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Brooklyn Gal
Your dad was always one of my favorites and not just because I loved Make Room for Daddy. He was a real person and a very nice man. And it was obvious he loved his family and loved children. He also loved this country because he realized their was a need for a place like this. Danny Thomas was ahead of his time. God Bless St. Jude Children’s Reserach Hospital.
By Brooklyn Gal on 11/24/2008 8:42 am
Frannie Em
Thank you Danny and Marlo As I a child I remember hearing about St Jude’s all the time. I used to think it must be the best place to go if you are a kid. Thank you for all of your hard work and unwavering dedication to this worthy and essential cause. It is so important. - Love the photos. I’ve added St Jude’s to my list of giving.
By Frannie Em on 11/24/2008 10:08 am
Brooklyn Gal
Oops. meant to write “there” not their. sorry. I remember the episode on Sex and the City when Carrie is so happy to see Big’s new wife make a similar error with that word.
By Brooklyn Gal on 11/24/2008 10:45 am
Jeannot Kensinger
Thank you Marlo for continuing this great legacy. Your father was a gem , he knew so early on what help kids and parents needed. This sort of thinking comes from the heart. Keep it up, Marlo.
By Jeannot Kensinger on 11/24/2008 10:49 am
James the Game
Perhaps a great, new discovery is awaiting in 2009!
By James the Game on 11/24/2008 12:09 pm
Ms. Dee
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Ms. Thomas. Thank you for St. Jude’s and for all you’ve given to so many. I salute you!
By Ms. Dee on 11/24/2008 12:22 pm
Lou Hoover
I have lived most of my life in Memphis. I have always thought that St Jude was the very best thing Memphis has to offer. I always enjoy driving visitors along the highway and pointing out the golden dome of your father’s last resting place. I cry every-time I tell someone that the top floor is for the critically ill children, that the lights stay on all the time and that it is called the stairway to heaven. Your family has done an amazing and wonderful thing. Thank you.
By Lou Hoover on 11/24/2008 8:24 pm
Chrome Toe
Wow Marlo…. that’s so cool. I never knew until very recently that St. Judes had been your dads thing before it was yours. I never knew much about your dad other than that my mother adored him. I guess he really deserved her adoration.
By Chrome Toe on 11/24/2008 9:42 pm
Sherrie Crews
Thank you Marlo, for the article and for the pictures. They made me realize how much I miss your father. He was one of the genuinely good people that we don’t have enough of anymore. I also miss seeing Phil on TV. He’s another of my favorites.
By Sherrie Crews on 11/25/2008 7:38 am
Melanie Waldrop
Over the years I’ve met people who’ve worked at St. Judes, parents whose children have been patients, as well as those who were, themselves patients there…the assessment from all is the same: St. Judes is a special and important place. I’d like to thank you and your family for the work you have done, and continue to do to saving the lives of children and advancing medical research. May your father’s legacy continue to flourish and thrive!
By Melanie Waldrop on 12/01/2008 10:09 am
mercedes ortiz dixon
marlo:God bless you & your family.i recall an episode on “that girl” where your beloved father played a priest…it was so precious to see this devout catholic do this….you are all in my prayers…
By mercedes ortiz dixon on 01/29/2009 7:51 am