Dear Cancer
I have met you quite a few times in my life both personally and professionally.
I thought it was tough meeting you in my professional world but I can definitely say meeting you in my personal world takes it to another level.
The thing is though, the scariest thing is that I know you so well I know what you do to people’s lives, to people’s families, to people’s memories to people’s bodies, to people’s dignity and independence, to people’s beliefs, to people’s trust in God, to people’s fear of hospitals, to people’s anxiety about what’s next, to people’s hypervigilance, to people’s hopes for the future, to people’s dreams and plans, to people’s relationships and roles in the family, to people’s appetite, to people’s insides – eating away at their body investing it with fluid and starving the healthy cells ripping people and their family and friends of TIME….
I know you all too well…. So when you came to visit again in my personal life and this time with greater fierce and power my heart sank because I know you too well and what you do….
I have to say though, I also know how you force the love and strength of families to the test, you make sure that gratitude is no longer a word or a platitude but that it becomes a way of life of living with the thankfulness of what one has had, holding onto the moment, of recognizing that there is always someone better off but worse off too, you realise that hope changes that being flexible and honoring the grey is powerful.
You see cancer can take and has and will continue to, but cancer can give too the lessons of life that maybe we need reminders of… cancer CAN never take away the connection, the memories, the magical moments, the love, the legacy of a life, the time sharing real raw emotion, the honesty and story telling. I know that professionally and personally.
People talk about the cancer battle of ‘winners and loosers’…..
Game over CANCER I win!!!!