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Doug Gray (left) and Marcus James Henderson (right) of the Marshall Tucker Band pose with Christine LaFave after their concert Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Kallet Theater in Pulaski.

(Provided by Tom LaFave)

Christine LaFave has stage IV breast cancer.

It's a fact that has pervaded every facet of her life, from her marriage to her job to motherhood. It's an ominous reality, with few opportunities for relief.

But Saturday night at the Kallet Theater, a group of old rockers and new friends showed the power of community and compassion and took Christine and her husband away from their distress, if only for a few hours.

Christine received the diagnosis on Jan. 28, 2013. The prognosis is terminal. Her doctor told her she has about two years to live.

Christine LaFave with her step-daughter Emily (left) and her daughter Grace (center).

She was 45 years old at the time with a five-year-old daughter. She had pretty, chestnut hair. She ate healthy. She exercised.

"To get a diagnosis like that sends your life into a surreal whirlwind," she said.

The doctors started almost immediately with aggressive treatment. She had a mastectomy and underwent 16 weeks of chemotherapy. After that she received seven weeks of radiation therapy. Her hair is only now starting to grow back.

Christine went for her latest scan three weeks ago. The results were underwhelming. The cancer hadn't spread, but it was still there.

"I've got a looming two-year prognosis," she said.

Above all else, however, Christine is thinking about loved ones: Her husband, Tom, and her six-year-old daughter, Grace.

"Even though I'm the one with cancer it puts a tremendous toll on your spouse as far as demands on him," she said. "People sometimes forget that your family goes through cancer too."

Tom is a diehard Marshall Tucker fan. When the band played at Taste of Syracuse this summer, Christine was in the middle of her chemo treatments. She insisted Tom go see them, but he wouldn't leave her.

Christine LaFave with her daughter, Grace

When Christine learned Marshall Tucker was playing in Pulaski, then, she immediately thought of her husband. She made several phone calls looking for tickets but hit a dead end. She called her husband -- a Pulaski native -- to break the news.

Tom made several calls until he got in touch with Mark Hilton at Fulton Boilerworks, a sponsor of Saturday's show.

"He said, 'If you want a night out, you both deserve it,'" Christine recalled.

Christine isn't the biggest Marshall Tucker fan. She even offered to let her husband take a friend. But they went together, and, for the first time, Christine found herself singing along with the band.

"I know every word by heart, not that I really want to," she said. "I was up dancing and singing along. My friend even got brought up onstage. My husband couldn't believe it."

Tom and Christine lingered after the show. Eventually, lead singer Doug Gray and the rest of the band came out to say hello. Tom told Doug his wife's story.

"I didn't really know what to say at first," Gray said. "I told her every bit of strength I had was with her."

They spent the dwindling hours of the evening talking and laughing together, posing for a barrage of photos and doing shots at the bar as Christine experienced some of Gray's notorious graciousness firsthand.

"He told me he's going to be praying for me," she said. "He was incredibly sincere."

Tom admits that Marshall Tucker Band probably wouldn't be Christine's "Make-A-Wish" concert, but says the love and compassion they shared Saturday with strangers and new friends was the best diversion he could think of.

"To see the smiles on my wife's face and to share genuine laughter with her meant more to me than anyone could imagine," Tom said.

While her condition hasn't improved, Christine is approaching each day with vigor. She's teaching again in the biology department at Colgate University where she's worked for 16 years. She's the faculty liaison for the school's men's lacrosse team. She's an adviser for the ballet company.

In the summer she spends time on Tuscarora Lake with her husband and daughter fishing and reading the newspaper. She recently ran a 5K.

"I'm living my life one day at a time," she said. "Anything that keeps my mind and my family's minds off the cancer is a blessing."

Doug Gray, for one, couldn't agree more.

"If we're able to take someone away from their troubles - whatever they might be - if only for 90 minutes, then we've done our job," he said. "That's what music is for."