Dodging COVID, fighting cancer: Morristown waitress gets boost from friends

Jessica Hutchings with her kids, Gianna, 11, and Jesse, 2.
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By Jamie Lynn Connors

Waitress Jessica Hutchings couldn’t wait to return to work at the Morristown Diner when pandemic restrictions were eased. Over the last dozen years, patrons there have become her second family.

But in early August, Hutchings was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of cancer where tumors grow rapidly.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 is hard. Being diagnosed with breast cancer at 29 in the middle of a global health pandemic is even more challenging. Because Hutchings is undergoing chemotherapy, she must quarantine herself.

And she isn’t just isolating from her diner family.

Jesse and Gianna.

Hutchings is a single mother of two children, Gianna, 11, and Jesse, 2. Since Gianna is not quarantining, she is living with her grandmother, only seeing Hutchings in between school and cheerleading practices.

“We’ll sit at the kitchen table and have conversations and catch up on things, but we’ve got to our distance and we’ve got to wear our masks,” said the Randolph native.

While she is grateful for the extra help, Hutchings misses having her daughter at their Rockaway home. “It’s just hard because that’s my kid. I’m supposed to raise her.”

Hutchings still is managing to take care of her son. On days when chemotherapy gets the best of her, her family helps look after the toddler.

Despite these struggles, Hutchings is putting on a brave face.

“I have to be (positive), because I feel like if I’m not, I’m going to be depressed,” she said. “The only way to get through this is to…make light out of things and kind of make it a joke and laugh it off.”

Her high school friend Julie Trentch became emotional reflecting on Hutchings’s optimism and strength.

Jessica Hutchings, her daughter Gianna, and friend Julie Trentch.

Hutchings is known for helping anyone, “whether they needed a place to stay, a DD (designated driver) when someone had too much to drink, a ride to work in the snow. Whatever it may be, she is your girl,” Trentch said.

Returning this kindness, Trentch has organized a GoFundMe page to help Hutchings cope with her medical bills and lost income.

“I just don’t think that having to stress about money when you’re trying to battle breast cancer is something that you should be doing,” Trentch said.

The campaign has raised more than $14,000.

“It’s restored my faith in humanity because people have been so kind and so generous that it’s mind-blowing,” Trentch said. “There’s some people that have donated that we don’t even know, and it’s just crazy. Everyone’s kindness has been amazing.”

“She’s very personable, very friendly. We’d like to help her as much as we can,” Morristown Diner Owner Peter Rotsides said.

Hutchings hopes to return to work next spring, after completing her chemotherapy and surgery.  That day cannot come fast enough.

“2021, let’s hurry up,” she said.

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