Something Miraculous Happened

 Something miraculous happened. I received nearly 2000 comments on a social media post. In a short period, dozens of messages came in Messenger as well! But they weren’t what I expected. They were all from people who have cancer. I cried at the computer because I’ve been so scared to tell my story. It’s hard to let people know the ups and downs I’ve felt. How I’ve been vulnerable and weak, still needing my walker at times. Or how I sobbed because I lost my hair. 

But these messages were from people telling me they felt exactly the same. People saying THEY needed to hear this from someone else, but they had no one to talk with. And so I cried because I feel the same. I guess I started sharing on social media because I didn’t want to burden my family by calling and telling them the good and bad things. But if they read my posts, well, that’s their choice. Yet, I could still get the feedback from others—the love that’s thus far buoyed me through.

Life has a strange way of wrapping us up in crazy situation that can seem so terrible, but when you stand back they’re really not. 

When I was a little girl, I used to get scared of simple things—like not waking up in the morning. Then I would dream, and I wouldn’t be scared anymore. I’d dream that I fell into a lake and a terrible alligator would snatch me up. But he just wanted a friend. And he’d bring me to his underwater lair, where there was magically air—and tea—and all sorts of delicious things. He’d use his massive claws to hold a delicate teacup and I’d laugh. Because it wasn’t quite so terrible after all. And he was just lonely sometimes too.

I guess that’s how cancer feels today. It snatched me up and is trying to drown me, but if I can have the strength to find the good—even in sickness, even in possible death—it’s not quite so terrible after all.

Today I’m remembering that each situation might just be a chance for us to see the good. And that goodness can buoy us through.