Life is good

Being 1700 miles away from home when your mother is going through something that you don't wish on your worst enemy is extremely difficult. There is nothing worse than knowing that an outside force is trying to destroy the life of someone you love. It's not a hopeless feeling, but more a feeling of helplessness. You want to help, but the only thing you can do is hope and pray that the treatment she receives is what's best. Cancer completely sideswipes you in a way that you don't understand until you go through it.

I've had a lot of thoughts over the past few weeks that I've jotted down, so I decided to make a list of what I have either noticed or learned from this ordeal.

1. There is nothing, NOTHING, more important that family and friends. I am very fortunate to have come from a great family that is extremely supportive in good times and bad. We are a strong family and will only be stronger due to this battle. Coming from such a great family only leads to the amount of friends that we have. I can't say enough about the people that have come to lend a supporting hand. Whether it's in the form of prayer, food, housing, or car rides, words can not express the gratitude that we feel in this time of need.

2. It seems that the more people I talk to about cancer, the more people I find that have dealt with it. At first I was a little hesitant to let others know what we are dealing with. But, the more people I talk to about it, the more I see that others have been through it. I equate it to buying a car, and once you buy that car you start to see it everywhere. Cancer has, or will, touch everyone in their lifetime at some point. Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will find a cure!

3. Life is good. Being in the hospital and seeing other people suffer only makes me realize how lucky we are to be in our situation. We have never had anything like this happen to us in our family. We have been dealt an extremely good hand in our lives. I wake up every morning knowing how good we have it in life. We are never given anything in life, and what we take from it should be looked at as a privilege and not as a right. We have had great lives and after seeing firsthand what can be taken away from you I absolutely have a different understanding of what life is about.

4. The word 'sick' takes on a completely different meaning when you get older. Abby touched on this is the previous post. When we were in Orlando 3 weeks ago we all noticed that something wasn't right. When I was golfing with my dad and brothers on Dec. 11 I asked my dad if she was still mourning the loss of our grandma or if she was sick. When I said 'sick' I wasn't thinking 'cancer sick', I was thinking 'miss a day of school sick'. Yes, there are different degrees of being sick, but only when you get older do you realize how serious the word 'sick' really can be.

5. Prayers, well-wishes, and positive thoughts DO have an influence. It is easy to be dragged down to cancer's level and have a 'woe is me' attitude. However, with the power of prayer and positive thoughts, and the sheer number of people that are giving them out, I can't help but have a sunny outlook on this situation.

Okay, that's all for now. It may be a little cluttered and rambling, but then again, I've always loved tangents. I'll post more thoughts later. But for now, get well mom. We know you will.

Love.

Luke