I wasn't sure what to expect of the day, I have seen two sides of this wonder. I am what is defined as a Co-Survivor to my very best friend, Andrea, and on the other as an RN knowing medically what these women and men go through during their treatments. But due to Andrea's distance from me, she lives in England, I haven't been afforded the opportunity yet to truly celebrate with her. As an RN I only see the hard times, the sick times, so celebrating this is something I have yet to experience. Was I ever in for things I didn't expect, gifts to me that I surely wasn't expecting and definitely will treasure for a lifetime.
Breakfast has a whole new meaning, before it was toasting some bread, cooking an egg. No, this breakfast was quite different, quite profound. 82 women, 2 male survivors and their co-survivors arrived, anxiously awaiting outside to get inside this room set up to celebrate them, those before them, those who will still face this journey.
It was a morning of celebrating, happy tears, and a sea of SMILES!!! These women, their families have just and even if not in the last year, have suffered such devastating events that time will not take away the memories of, but yet, here they are, each of them celebrating and embracing one another's victories.
I have to say I was in tears more than any person in the room I think, as foreseen by the unfortunate blurry images I twiddled through. My tears weren't for feeling sorry for them, none of them want pity, they are entirely too strong for pity~! My tears were for my friend and wishing, waiting for our celebration of her victory and for just being in the presence of so MANY strong and amazing people, fighters in the truest and most raw form. People who are stripped of everything that the disease tries to strip them of, taken down to places no one should have to go, but they fought/fight, they stand tall and in the face of it all, they celebrate.
We all like to dream of our futures, what we will be doing in a few years, plans for our homes, gardens, our work. We dream of what our kids might be, where their lives will lead them and we pray it is easier than any road we ever took. We think about the next holiday, what meals we would like to have, what kind of cakes, what not to wear because we KNOW we are going to overeat, it's a given with any holiday! The truth, the reality these Survivors, their Co-Survivors realize is it isn't the tomorrow's, the next holidays, the next years, it's the now. It's THIS moment, this one you have to say I love you, to tell someone just how important they are in our lives, to reach out and help even if with kind words that someone who is struggling, fighting to keep it together, to hug our children and hold them close. RIGHT NOW is the time we have to make a difference, I don't mean to put on a cape and turn into Superman, I mean to make an immediate difference in lives around us. No one knows better than a Survivor that it is the NOW that counts.....
Right now, I am telling my best friend that my world is better for having her in it and that I love her and cherish our bond, and that I CANNOT WAIT for our celebration! Right now, I am telling my kids that I am proud of them and how tenacious they are in their own ways. Right now, I am telling my oldest that she is the BEST mom a grandma could ask for. Right now, I am wishing that each of you never has to understand the things these women, men and their families do. RIGHT NOW, I am hoping you take this moment and make it count!
CONGRATULATIONS MY DEAR ONES.....
I HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Until We Click Again,
~Alisha
