INDIANAPOLIS — "Retail therapy" has taken on a new meaning for a pair of longtime friends who are traveling cross-country on a shopping spree of sorts.
Lisa and Robin, who affectionately call themselves "Bertie and Bessie," are on a mission to visit 60 T.J. Maxx stores in celebration of their 60th birthdays this year.
Why T.J. Maxx? Well, while they enjoy a good deal just like most of us, their bond is deeper than a bargain.
Lisa and Robin have been best friends since college sorority days but found themselves drawing even closer as both of them had family members battling different types of brain cancer.
In 2019, Lisa's late husband, Harvey, was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
"He was the strongest person I know, and he fought like as best as he could," Lisa said. "He passed away a year and three days after he had surgery and he was diagnosed."
In 2020, Robin's son, Adam, was diagnosed with oligodendroglioma.
"He's doing well," Robin said of her son's treatment so far. "We haven't seen any substantive growth from his tumors."
Robin said Adam is a craniotomy survivor and is hoping to be included in a research study soon as he explores his treatment options.
Adam has a clothing line, Umbrla Supply, which raises money for brain cancer research.
"She has been my rock, just getting me through the grief and the heartache and the paperwork — just to breathing again," Lisa said, opening up about the way the two have leaned on each other in the toughest of times.
Somewhere between the unimaginable challenges they share, T.J. Maxx is uniquely woven into the fabric of their friendship.
"It was the one thing that both of us just really loved to do to just relax, just retail therapy and not even buying anything sometimes, just walking the aisles just gave a us a clear head for 30 minutes," Lisa said.
And so it began.
"We were talking about what we wanted to do for our 60th birthday, and you know, many people go on trips to Europe or other places, and I thought we were being silly when I said, 'You know, we should go to 60 T.J. Maxx stores across the U.S. to raise awareness for brain cancer, as well as fundraise.'"
Lisa and Robin are well into doing just that, starting just outside of Indianapolis and making their way across the Midwest and beyond. The pair has checked off more than three dozen stores from New York to Florida. They are doing their best to document it on social media.
When asked what their favorite T.J. Maxx store so far is, they both agreed on the same location.
"That's actually a pretty easy question," Robin said. "We went to one in the City Center of Milwaukee, and it was breathtaking. We felt like we were in a museum."
They've been on the road since May, taking their time after kicking things off during Brain Cancer Awareness Month — just as these impromptu trips to T.J. Maxx started, chatting with other shoppers is often a full-circle experience.
"In each store that we've gone into, we have met somebody that has been affected by brain cancer, and so as we say, if they'll follow us on social media and they share (our videos), somebody knows somebody that might be working on a cure," Robin said.
You can follow the pair at @BertieandBessie on Instagram.
They are only a handful of stores away from their fashionable feat and have even taken their "shopping sabbatical" international. Lisa just returned from a vacation in London with a stop at T.J. Maxx on her itinerary.