An Open Letter to Cancer

Dear cancer,

Thank you.

Not for the terrible disease that you are. Not for the pain that you bring to so many individuals and families. Not for taking away precious weeks that I should have been spending enjoying my newlywed life. Not for the sleepless nights or the countless tears shed. Not for the feelings of helplessness or confusion. Not for the many hours spent in hospital rooms. Not for the emotional toll you take on the lives of those affected by you, or for the nasty way you cause physical pain to your victims.

Thank you.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to love more deeply. Thank you for drawing my family close together during a hard time. Thank you for the community of other cancer victims and their families that you have introduced me to and allowed me to garner support from and provide encouragement to. Thank you for reminding me to put all of my trust in God. Thank you for allowing me to feel God’s comfort and peace in a new way. Thank you for showing me how to count my blessings in the midst of suffering, and for teaching me to choose my family and my faith over my own conveniences or desires. Thank you for teaching me to focus on the positive and for teaching me how to be strong in the face of adversity.

Thank you for showing me what love in a marriage is – it is standing by each other’s side on the ugliest of days, the hardest of days, and the best of days. It’s clinging to each other when you don’t know what else to do, and never taking a day that you have for granted. It’s embracing his pain as my own and working together to overcome something difficult. It truly is “in sickness and in health, til death do us part.”

Thank you for reminding me how amazing my friends and family are. From meals to hanging out to prayers, our friends and family have proven to be incredible people. And my God has reminded me how faithful He is. And those are things you can never take away from us. No matter how many times you bare your ugly teeth.

Cancer – thank you for the good things you brought to my life. But don’t take this as an open invitation to ever make yourself comfortable in my life or my loved ones’ lives again.  I can thank you, but it doesn’t mean I have to like you.

 

(disclaimer: everyone in my family is fine right now. Just using this as an outlet to express some thoughts)