Did you know that the American Cancer Society is celebrating their 100th Birthday?! That’s just crazy to me. One hundred years of a determined fight against one of the top killers in our world. Cancer. They have saved many lives and allowed those people to celebrate more birthdays.
I think it’s easy as you go about your days to feel like you’ve got a lot of time to live. I for one, find myself in that boat. It’s not until a friend, loved one, or even you find out that you have cancer that life suddenly seems so short. Who would have thought making it to another birthday would be such a fight?! But for a few of my friends and family this is so. You see this thing we call cancer is oh so real to them. Whether it’s the frequent doctor appointments, drugs, pain, pain meds, loss of hair, etc. they have been thrust into the battle of their lives. One nobody should ever have to face. And especially not in silence…no battle is ever won that way.
That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to spend a little time sharing and spreading the word on the remarkable efforts of The American Cancer Society. In fact last year I wrote about my grandmother who was fighting her battle against cancer. While we knew that would probably be the last time we would see her alive, we wondered if she might be granted one more birthday. Then a few months after I shared her story, she breathed her last breath. I remember the moment I found out. You see, I thought that morning was going to just be another Sunday, but it wasn’t. My grandmother had passed away. Shock waves rippled throughout our family just like they did when we first heard the news of her cancer. We wept, got angry, felt robbed almost, of the time we still wanted to have with her. Ultimately, we knew she was no longer in pain. Her battle was over and all that she felt now was peace. But there’s something about cancer being the victor that is a little too bitter to swallow.
Cancer is ugly.
It’s nasty, heart wrenching, and brutal. Something that will grow and reap it’s awfulness in our silence, affecting those we love the most. While I am so thankfully that the American Cancer Society has contributed to a 20% decline in cancer death rates (helping save 1.2 million lives) in the US since the early 1990s, that’s not enough. Until no family has to experience what mine has, we need to speak up and take action. It’s not only their fight, it’s ours too.
What will you do to help the fight against cancer?
Is someone close to you fighting right now? Please share their story below.
I want to know. I’m not going to be silent!
And you shouldn’t either.
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