In 2009, a chain of events happened that would have lost Henrietta’s story if Skloot had not begun researching it a decade earlier. When Skloot went to Clover on January 18, she found out that Clover disappeared. A few years before, Gary suddenly died from a heart attack. That was followed by Fred and Day’s death and Cookie’s suicide. On May 21, “after leaving many message” (Skloot 2010), Rebecca called Sonny to have his sister respond to her calls. It happened day after Mother’s Day. Sonny went to check on Dale because she did not respond to her calls. She was in her bed, “but she wasn’t sleeping” (Skloot, 2010). Dale was dead; she finally joined Henrietta and Elsie. After finding her, Sonny cut a lock of her hair and put it in the bible with Henrietta’s and Elsie’s lock of hair. She died happy. If Rebecca Skloot did not work on this story when she did, then she would not have been able to get everyone’s perspective on HeLa. Her story would not have existed. At first, Henrietta’s family was reluctant to tell Skloot anything about Henrietta. If the story started any later, there would not be a story.
Zunera, you definitely answered the question correctly, but which important event do you think could’ve cause the history of the HeLa cells to be hidden forever? I think the most important event that could’ve lost Henreitta’s story was Deborah’s death. Sonny had explained to Skloot that Deborah had “a heart attack just after Mother’s Day” (Skloot, 2010, p.308). Deborah was the most important relative because she helped uncover what happened to Henrietta. All of Henrietta’s family was sensitive towards the subject of the HeLa cells, when Skloot first met Henreitta’s family members, but Deborah was more willing to cooperate with Skloot and discover the truth behind her mother’s death. If it wasn’t for Deborah’s cooperation, Skloot definitely wouldn’t have received any useful information from the rest of the family.
I feel like it took Skloot a long time to publish her book because it took a long time for Henrietta’s family to trust her. When she first went to go meet the family, “Sonny stood [her] up” (Skloot, 2010) as Rebecca waited for Henrietta’s family. She also wanted the family to be prepared for the book’s release. Because the family was extremely sensitive about anything related to Henrietta, Skloot wanted to make sure that they understand the consequences of releasing the book. It also took a lot of time to gather all the information because Henrietta’s family felt like it was their duty to protect her now because they couldn’t protect her in the past.
In 2009, a chain of events happened that would have lost Henrietta’s story if Skloot had not begun researching it a decade earlier. When Skloot went to Clover on January 18, she found out that Clover disappeared. A few years before, Gary suddenly died from a heart attack. That was followed by Fred and Day’s death and Cookie’s suicide. On May 21, “after leaving many message” (Skloot 2010), Rebecca called Sonny to have his sister respond to her calls.
ReplyDeleteIt happened day after Mother’s Day. Sonny went to check on Dale because she did not respond to her calls. She was in her bed, “but she wasn’t sleeping” (Skloot, 2010). Dale was dead; she finally joined Henrietta and Elsie. After finding her, Sonny cut a lock of her hair and put it in the bible with Henrietta’s and Elsie’s lock of hair. She died happy.
If Rebecca Skloot did not work on this story when she did, then she would not have been able to get everyone’s perspective on HeLa. Her story would not have existed. At first, Henrietta’s family was reluctant to tell Skloot anything about Henrietta. If the story started any later, there would not be a story.
Zunera, you definitely answered the question correctly, but which important event do you think could’ve cause the history of the HeLa cells to be hidden forever? I think the most important event that could’ve lost Henreitta’s story was Deborah’s death. Sonny had explained to Skloot that Deborah had “a heart attack just after Mother’s Day” (Skloot, 2010, p.308). Deborah was the most important relative because she helped uncover what happened to Henrietta. All of Henrietta’s family was sensitive towards the subject of the HeLa cells, when Skloot first met Henreitta’s family members, but Deborah was more willing to cooperate with Skloot and discover the truth behind her mother’s death. If it wasn’t for Deborah’s cooperation, Skloot definitely wouldn’t have received any useful information from the rest of the family.
ReplyDeleteHi Zunera, why do you think it took so long for Skloot to finally have her book published?
ReplyDeleteI feel like it took Skloot a long time to publish her book because it took a long time for Henrietta’s family to trust her. When she first went to go meet the family, “Sonny stood [her] up” (Skloot, 2010) as Rebecca waited for Henrietta’s family. She also wanted the family to be prepared for the book’s release. Because the family was extremely sensitive about anything related to Henrietta, Skloot wanted to make sure that they understand the consequences of releasing the book. It also took a lot of time to gather all the information because Henrietta’s family felt like it was their duty to protect her now because they couldn’t protect her in the past.
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