Cancer in a Box..
Cancer is a burden on us all. It is relentless. We go through it as patients, as care givers, as friends of patients, standing on the margins, willing to help in any we can help. If we’ve done it once, we are changed forever. Unfortunately, many of us have done it multiple times and each ordeal, changes us again and again.
There are moments in cancer that seem to make a permanent stamp in our memory bank. I really do believe, as time passes, we forget a lot about the daily grind of care giving. But there are those moments that happened over the days, weeks and months that seem to stay with us forever. And the craziest things trigger flashbacks of those events.
Don’t ever apologize for experiencing those flashbacks. They are as real as life itself. When they roll-in, like a wave breaking inside you, stop and ask yourself “Why now?” There’s probably a good reason for remembering.
We all have our way of coping. We write journals, books of poetry, we blog…the list goes on and on. It’s the only way to keep cancer in a box, away from the rest of our world.
Some things are just not invited into the rest of our world.
November 9, 2012 @ 7:11 pm
I deliver Meals on Wheels each Friday to a Senior Center plus some others on the outside. I deliver to 14 people. In the Center are two women fighting cancer. One with pancreatic cancer and the other with Stage IV breast cancer that has spread to her spine. I am privileged to know these ladies. A quiet dignity from each of them in the face of overwhelming adversity and pain but they remain resolute. They are so appreciative when I deliver the meals when it is me who should thank them for allowing me to witness courage in action. I am blessed. My day is better for having visited them and talked with them. Their days are numbered but there attitude remains upbeat and so hopeful…no pity party from either one. They are Believers so they know where they’ll spend eternity. I am just a fleeting face in their lives but have been blessed to know them and witness their courage. They would like to survive ’til Christmas, if possible and perhaps even longer God willing. I pray that this comes to pass.
November 10, 2012 @ 10:48 am
Al-what a wonderful gift you are to everyone on your delivery route. You must look like an angel bringing so much more than food.
November 10, 2012 @ 11:36 am
No angel here Nan but thx for your kind words. Before I began to do this,thought to myself that “it would be nice to help others”. Little did I know that those I serve have helped and are helping me immensely. I tell my friends that if you think things are tough and you are feeling a little sorry for yourself for your plight in life, come ride with me! Your faith will be restored and your spirits lifted as you meet and talk with these ladies (I serve 13 ladies and 1 man). Life has been hard for most of them but you would never know it unless you ask. They make my day and I am grateful to know them.
November 12, 2012 @ 12:13 pm
I think Nan is right…I vote for “angel Al” too!!
Laurie