the big C

Cancer is in the air.  Ok, not technically, but there have been deaths due to cancer in this past week that have hit close to home.  A lady that dad works with at the bank has been battling cancer for years and lost her battle on Sunday.  The funeral was today, which my dad attended.  He said there were easily a thousand people there ... she was a very loved lady!  They had cameras set up sending feed to other buildings for the overflow of people.  How crazy is that...

Another family that I know is suffering this week is one from back home.  One of my old classmate's dad lost his battle with cancer on Monday.  I'm not familiar with how long he had been fighting, but I know it was for a while.  He left behind a wife and two daughters. 

My heart goes out to these families this week because losing a loved one to Cancer is not easy.  Well, losing a loved one at all isn't easy, much less to cancer.  It really makes me take a step back and see just how much some people suffer compared to how much I feel I suffer some days.  My suffering is NOTHING compared to those individuals fighting for their lives each and every day.  I pray that the families of these recent cancer victims find strength in God's love to find healing in this hard time.  I could never even begin to imagine losing my parents or siblings, or any of my family or close friends right now.  I know death is another part of life, but it scares me and it's painful for the ones left behind to cope with.  The classmate I spoke of earlier is two years younger than me, and she lost her father.  She is a freshman in college, going through the hardships of getting accustomed to college life and the homesickness and pressures that go along with it, and now she must deal with the death of her father, to whom I know she was very close to.  It's devastating, and it breaks my heart.  I pray every day that someone out there finds a cure to this horrible disease.

It's times like this that also makes me think of the loved ones I have lost due to cancer: my aunt and my grandmother.  I didn't know my aunt very well, but that doesn't mean I don't miss her and wish that I could have had the opportunity to get to know her.  And I miss my grandmother dearly.  She was the strongest woman I have ever known and I can only wish that I become half the woman she ever was.  May they and all those who became victims of cancer rest in peace, and may their families find comfort and strength in knowing that their loved ones are no longer suffering.