Of course,
cancer itself if never far away. The child of a colleague of mine was recently diagnosed
with leukemia…and now from afar, I can see the horror and terror of the impending
campaign against cancer all over again.
Yet, I have
found progress and some amount of joy recently. Talking to an old friend of
mine, we were catching up on the recent experiences of our wives, both of whom
were diagnosed with breast cancer – my wife’s journey I’ve written about here. He is a more private man and aside
from telling his group of online friends about the diagnosis and some of the
steps of the treatment, he really didn’t say much.
Until my wife
was diagnosed as well. That commonality of dismay drew us together after years
and while I don’t often see him, I feel a deep and abiding connection with him
and know that our lives intertwined in a startling and unexpected way.
So I discovered
that other things can now distract me. I’ve grown roots that I’d never needed
before, and discovered a new strength I never knew I had. That I never knew was
possible – it was a forged kind of strength. You know the kind if you’ve seen
the LORD OF THE RINGS movies. It was the kind of strength that came from the
reforging of something that was broken – Narsil – and then remade into a
stronger, sleeker, more powerful weapon, the new sword, Andúril.
It accomplished
great things once, that is, it stopped the dark lord, Sauron and nearly
destroyed him. It was remade to accomplish greater things still and when Sauron
once again attempted to take over Middle Earth, Andúril not only assured his
defeat, it ushered in a New Age.
It appears to me
that the New Age has not arrived. The health of my parents is deteriorating and
my son left for 5 years of service in the Army.
It appears that
while I may have been reforged in the fires of my wife’s struggle through
breast cancer, I will be tempered by new fires – and perhaps pass through to be
part of greater things.
Just in case you
were wondering – this is called ramblings for a reason…
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