Clouds Hang Heavy Sometimes And Are Full Of Rain
Been a bit on the somber side today for various and sundry reasons---one of which is contemplation of time spent with a family a couple of days ago whom we know but not well. They were in our home for awhile on Sunday, this little family with their four young children. The youngest is 22 months old and getting ready to start heavy chemo treatments tomorrow. She has stage four neuroblastoma, this little tiny slip of a girl with the sweet face and funny habit of crinkling up her nose and squinting her eyes when she tries to resist smiling.
Also, there's a young woman--22 or 23--well-known to us who we've just learned is full of cancer. She's been given a short time to live. She's been married for a couple of years. I remember at the time thinking that it was so young to be getting married and was it the right thing, but now I'm so happy that she and her husband (they've been exclusively each other's since about the age of 12) had a few years together as a married couple. And now all those dreams and plans**poof**.
How does a parent bear it? I know that many parents do, many more parents will. I quake 'neath the fear of it ever being me.
It gives life a fresh perspective and more meaning than before. We aren't here forever and there are no guarantees....What are we doing with the time we have?
posted by jay are at 10:25 PM
10 Comments:
oh, so sad....I have a friend whose son is dying at 7 years old. He was born with cerebral palsy and they said he'd not live past 6. They thought he would go yesterday but he's still hanging on. It sure does offer perspective when you're having a bad day with the kids, no?
8:43 AM, April 05, 2006
Oh that's just gut wrenching.....makes my own stressors pale in comparison. I'm so sorry your friends are going through so much. ((((Hugs))) to them and to you!
11:04 AM, April 05, 2006
Against these news bits, my overdrawn checking account pales... whether your baby is 2 or 22, it's got to be the-bad-place-on-earth as a parent to see their life in the balance when you'd so willingly rather it be yours... Hard to find the coordinating silver lining with those clouds.
2:20 PM, April 05, 2006
Your last paragraph sums up just about all we can do, realize that we are not here forever and use the time we have left wisely. ec
8:12 PM, April 05, 2006
Oh my, this kind of thing just breaks my heart. I thank god everyday for blessing me with my child. It surely is the cruelest of blows when a parent has to endure this.
9:46 PM, April 05, 2006
it also stops to remind us to look (or ask) for the grace in the most mundane, or in this case, the most difficult times.
6:27 AM, April 06, 2006
When we encounter one so you whose life is nearing an end, it seems to awaken us to the shortness and sacredness of life. I shall pray that her final days are serene.
9:24 PM, April 06, 2006
How incredibly sad - my thoughts go to both families.
I have a friend who lost her first daughter to cancer at 22 months. It was that sadest thing. I met about a year after she lost her sweet little baby. It affected her whole family.....she later married and now has 3 happy healthy children..but she will never forget her first born. I think we just all have to remember how short life really is and take as much enjoyment out of each moment as we can. Its hard to do sometimes...but its worth it.
9:08 PM, April 09, 2006
i have been missing you lately.
10:02 PM, April 12, 2006
:) I have been missing having something to write about...
10:37 PM, April 12, 2006
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