It's amazing how when you hear bad news it changes the way you look at your life. The issue that you once faced, now seems insignificant and almost offensive that you would worry about something so careless.
Life has a funny way of changing your plans. I remember when I was in middle school and I thought about what my life might look like when I grow up. It's not a completely different picture from the one I painted, but it certainly has changed.
One thing I really didn't plan on was the number of loved ones that have to deal with cancer. It's a bitch of a disease, and that's putting it nicely. It doesn't care about your race, size, income or your good karma. It just attacks, leaving you with uncertain circumstances and no hair.
I'm sure most of you reading this post have dealt with cancer one way or another. It seems everyone has a story or 4 about the tribulations of cancer.
The last time cancer was in my life I really let it get to me. I let it pull at my heart strings from every angle. I myself became depressed and I wasn't even the one dealing with the poison that is chemotherapy and the other drugs that take over your body. It's not that I wasn't positive, it's that I just couldn't believe that it entered my life… again. I thought surely with my sister nearing death at the age of 14 it wouldn't happen again. When my best friend was diagnosed with lymphoma I was in shock. But she recovered and I knew that was the last I'd ever see. Then when my Dad was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma I just couldn't take it. But he's here, taking me to baseball games and writing a book that might change the way we look at the civil rights movement (side note, my dad is a genius, really.)
But now cancer is back in my life. Again I am shocked. I thought for sure it wouldn't touch me so closely. But it has and here I am. It's a little different this time around, as each form of cancer is, and I'm going to try my hardest to remember my own words of wisdom- to be there. To ask questions. To do what's needed without being asked or thanked.
When life hands you cancer it's not always easy to make the most out of the situation. It's hard to look on the bright side. But I intend to try that. To be happy and most of all to be there.
