The C Word

We all know someone who has or has had cancer.  And many of us can distinctly remember the time we were given the news that one of our loved ones had been diagnosed.  And some of you remember the day the doctor told you that it was you that had cancer.

The news rips through you like an electric current as you absorb the facts.  Before you are told the real truth your mind goes there. You picture the person slipping through your fingers.  I known many many people who have had and died from cancer.  I can't even count on my hands.  I watched my best friends lose mothers, sisters, fathers from this aweful disease.  It never gets easier to hear the news.

Recently I got a phone call from someone very close to me telling me they have cancer.  It was someone who means the world to me.  Someone whom I love more than almost anything on this planet.    Before they had the chance to give me the facts, I had them (in my head) dying before my eyes.  As the facts were spelled out, a breath of relief washed over my body.  They weren't dying.  They had the "good" cancer.  The kind that would more than likely be treated with surgery.  The kind that is so slow growing it was unlikely it got anywhere that was dangerous.  I found myself relieved that they got the good cancer.  The good cancer.  How is it that those two words can go together.  Cancer is never good.  It is an ugly ravaging disease.  For many people its a sneaky time bomb waiting to steal, kill and destroy.  It takes babies, children, mothers, fathers, sisters. It does not have prejudices.  It does not wait for anyone.  I hate cancer! At whatever level, the "good" kind or not.  

What the C word has given me this time around is a renewed sense of how short and unstable this life can be.  People can be ripped from us without warning.  Whether its by cancer, car accidents, heart attacks or freak weather occurrences.  So I encourage you to hug the people closest to you.  Tell them you love them.  SHOW them you love them.  Don't wait until something forces your hand.  Why wait?  Do it today.  Tell your mom that you love her. Thank her for all the hours of sleep she lost because of you.  Grab your dad's hand, look him in the eye and say thank you for all the hours he worked to give you all that you have.  Look your spouse in the eye and tell them what makes them your favorite!  Call your best friend.  Tell him/her why you love them.  Write them a card.  Send them a text.  I dare you. I double dog dare you!  Yeah I said it :) 

 I am not losing my person today because of cancer but I realized in all of that that I could have been.  There is no guarantee that I won't lose someone close to me tomorrow to something else.  

I am not sure why I woke up today needing to say this out loud so forgive me if on the day after a big election or the week after a deadly storm this seems random or out of place but for some reason it needed to come out of my mouth and into a post.

Thanks for listening!

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