A Beloved Houston Restaurant Matriarch, Johnny Carrabba, a Fashion Maven and Shelby Hodge Do a Special CanCare Podcast

There was laughter and there were tears when Rosie Carrabba, matriarch of the Carrabba restaurant family; her son Johnny Carrabba; Donna Lewis, the owner of Tootsies; and this scribe sat down on a recent morning to record a revealing and entertaining podcast for CanCare in recognition of National Cancer Survival Month.

Breast cancer survivor since 1998 Donna Lewis, a longtime volunteer with the nonprofit that partners cancer survivors with patients, was Rosie Carrabba‘s CanCare partner throughout her breast cancer journey. I am 11 years on the healthy side of my own cancer diagnosis.

This edition of “Hope in the Face of Cancer: A Survivor by Your Side” is available now and can be heard here. Additional episodes feature stories from cancer survivors, caregivers, volunteers, partners and more.

Insights From a CanCare Podcast

Lewis has been a volunteer with CanCare since its founding 30 years ago, not knowing that in five years after joining she would be diagnosed “with a very aggressive form of breast cancer and I had a couple of situations connected with it that were quite serious and it was a pretty dire situation.”

Lewis explained that with two teens in Memorial High School, the family had dinner at Carrabba’s on Woodway every Friday night. And every Friday night, they would be greeted by Rosie Carrabba.

“I got to know Rosie at that time as a patron and also then became a good friend,” Lewis says on the podcast. “Rosie without even knowing it, I think, was a CanCare volunteer in her heart. Every time I came in for the next year while I had my chemo and radiation, it didn’t matter what I looked like, Rosie made me feel like I was beautiful.

“I had no hair. I didn’t wear a wig. She laughed and probably told me a joke and then I’d be laughing. She and this place were so special to me and my family.”

And, yes, if you know Rosie Carrabba, you know that she loves to tell jokes, often adult rated. The podcast is not without laughs generated by her contagious sense of humor.

When Carrabba was diagnosed with breast cancer a number of years ago, Lewis was there as her CanCare volunteer offering love and encouragement through her year of radiation. Though Carrabba was not yet familiar with the organization.

“I was scared and nervous, she made me feel relaxed,” Carrabba says. “And she let me know what I would be going through and that helped me.”

Not only did Lewis help Rosie Carrabba, she subsequently helped the family. Johnny Carrabba says that one of the greatest regrets of his life was that neither he nor any family member were there when his mother rang the bell at MD Anderson Cancer Center. But CanCare was.

“People never forget an act of kindness and CanCare was there for my mother, just as much or more than we, my family, were.” Johnny Carrabba says. “They filled in so perfectly. And you don’t forget that. . . I’m forever grateful for CanCare for how they treated my mother.”

There are more heartfelt moments, insights, and laughter on the complete podcast.