The Tribune

By CHAPPELL WHYMS JR

cwhyms@tribunemedia.net

FASHION designer Remilda Rose recently honored eight members of the country’s armed forces who are undergoing cancer treatment at her annual gala.

Under the theme, Beyond the Badge, Beyond the Battle, the dinner and fashion show sought to shine a spotlight on the courage and dignity of these brave warriors and their will to keep going.

Every year Remilida Rose holds the gala to honour those that have struggled and come through the other end of their fights. She uses her creativity and her platform to make the honourees feel love supported and looking red carpet ready with support from her community.

She noted how unfair it was that these brave warriors who have protected our boarders and seas now have to face this battle against their own bodies.

“But thes eeight brave souls picked up the their cross and kept on marching and fighting forward.”

The gala not only allowed them a chance to tell their stores, but also allowed family and friends to celebrate their lives.

Many people often wait too late to give loved ones their flowers, but Remilda Rose designs wanted to break that tradition, by creating a one of a king custom outfit for each honoree.

She spent time with each person listening to their stories to help form the gowns and suits to match them perfectly.

Remilda sourced materials not available in the country to help create a unique outfit that either highlighted the personality of the honoree or pushed them out of their comfort zone with the color or the fit.

Each honoree had a unique tale to tell; however, DeAnne Parker Davis stood out the most. At the show, Mrs Davis pointed out she had always had a tomboyish nature and so when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, it seemed like an attack on the femininity she had never really embraced.

She had to rely on the support of her faith and her family to get through the process particulary  because she also had other siblings who were in the midst of their own cancer battles.

She clung to her faith in Jesus and to those that stood by her even in the the midst of covid shut downs and isolations.

At the end of the fight she did lose one sibling ,but she came out stonger not only with her faith and family, but also with a new understanding of her own femininity.