Correspondent
As a pediatric oncology nurse, Tamara Cundey Dunstan often brought home the emotions associated with her job.
"I'd say, 'Let's do something else,' " said her husband, Bernard Dunstan, suggesting she change careers.
His wife, however, would have none of that. The children at the Medical College of Georgia Children's Medical Center were such an important part of her life, he said.
Mrs. Dunstan died in 2004, but her memory lives as her family continues to touch the lives of the hospitalized children.
"We have a touch of Tamara here today. She reaches down and touches these children through us," said her mother, Faye Cundey, on Friday as the family held a Christmas party for the children well enough to come out of their rooms and gather in the fifth floor lobby.
There, they decorated cookies and Christmas stockings. They greeted the Pink Panther and received gifts.
"It's just a blessing," said Toni Hall, of Valdosta, Ga., as she wiped away tears.
Her daughter, Payton, 6, was at the hospital last week so doctors could run tests to determine the cause of her illness.
Laken Holton, 21, was probably the oldest patient participating in the party.
Ms. Holton, of Douglas, Ga., has been a patient several times at the center because she was born with a single-ventricle defect in her heart. She had her first surgery when she was 4 months old and spent her first Christmas at the hospital.
"It's amazing how they always have something to keep the kids encouraged," she said.
The Cundey and Dunstan families have put on several special events in memory of Mrs. Dunstan, including feeding 1,000 people at Thanksgiving in 2006, having Halloween and Christmas parties and helping with Camp Rainbow.
The special events are funded through the Tamara Cundey Dunstan Endowment Fund. Donations may be mailed to the MCG Health Office of Philanthropy, 1120 15th St. BA-8270, Augusta, GA 30912.
Reach Charmain Z. Brackett at charmain.brackett@augustachronicle.com.
