The "gift" of cancer

Cancer is not something you would ever ask to have happen to a loved one or yourself. It's a scary, worrisome business. So it might seem odd to say that there can be any gift associated with cancer, but I believe there can be.

For me, the gift has been being able to use my experience to help others who are diagnosed. I've been on my county's Relay For Life planning committee the last couple of years, and I've made contacts and learned about programs that I can suggest to people who are newly diagnosed and feeling lost. That is VERY rewarding for me.

Relay itself has brought me the gift of so many dear friends that I would not have known otherwise. We are bound by our status as survivors and people who are determined to fight the BEAST. Although I wish I had met them another way, I cherish having them in my life.

As I write this tonight, I have a heavy heart, because one friend our Relay committee is probably near the end of her life on earth, and another friend from church just got a fairly daunting diagnosis. *sigh* My work is not done...