Holiday light hangings help cancer patients' homes shine

In one of Christine Strovink's darkest moments, Diane Kearns provided some light.

Night had fallen over Long Island as Strovink drove up to her Rocky Point home from an appointment at Stony Brook Cancer Center. It was December 2023, and Christmas was nearing — but Strovink was hardly in a jolly spirit. Her stage 4 colon cancer had spread, and she was preparing for surgery.  

And then she saw it: Her home had been adorned with festive lights and shone for the whole block to see. 

Strovink later learned the surprise gesture had been organized by Kearns, whom she had met on a committee to improve care for cancer patients.

For the past four years, Kearns, a breast cancer survivor, has worked with local companies that hang Christmas lights to perform their services for free at the homes of families across the region where someone has cancer. 

This year, Kearns organized for the homes of nine families — including Strovink's — to be draped with lights.

"You're not always in a huge holiday spirit when you have cancer," Strovink, now 57, said in an interview. "She kind of brings the spirit back to things."

Worlds 'turned upside down'

Kearns, 51, of Sound Beach, was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago right before Christmas. By the following year, her cancer was in remission. But the weight of that holiday season has stuck with her.

"It was very different," Kearns said. "Your world is turned upside down, and your priorities change. The holidays, it felt heavy. It was difficult. You put a smile on your face, but inside you struggled. There were so many unknowns."

Kearns had enough strength to put her Christmas lights up that year. But she met others who did not. By Christmas 2022, with her chemotherapy treatment finished, she was searching for a way to help some of the people she had met in treatment. She cold-called a couple of companies that hang Christmas lights to gauge interest in offering their services for free.

Deborah Feistel, office manager for the Bay Shore-based Long Island Christmas Light Installation, said a full installation typically costs hundreds of dollars. But when Kearns called, the company jumped at the idea.

Feistel said the company has mostly draped lights for Kearns on the homes of families where there is a child with cancer. But on one occasion, they worked on the home of a 78-year-old man who had cancer. He had never had Christmas lights, he told them. 

"He was crying. He was so touched," Feistel said. "If we could make somebody smile, that's the idea. Life is short."

'They're not alone'

One day this fall, right after Thanksgiving, Strovink was home when her dog started to bark. She figured a package had been delivered, but when she went outside, she saw a crew of men with ladders and lights.

Kearns, again.

The crew went above and beyond, Strovink said. In addition to draping her house in lights, they replaced a set of lights hanging around the porch that had gone out.

The future is uncertain for Strovink, who is still undergoing treatment. But this holiday season has felt a little lighter than years past. Her grandson, Troy, has spent a lot of time at her home. He's 9 months old, and this will be his first Christmas. When he sees the home lit up, he "gets so excited," Strovink said.

"It seems like a small act of kindness, but it really means so much," Kearns said. "It reminds them that they're not alone."