The Kindness of Others
I have been meaning to do a post here about some of the amazing words others have shared with me during my cancer journey and just have not gotten around to it until now. It helps that yesterday, I spent a great deal of time sorting through the piles of cards I received and re-reading things that often brought me to tears a second time. Some are simple. Some are more involved. But they are all eloquent, in their ways, and beautiful. And every sentiment I received meant a lot to me. These are just a few that stuck out. Hopefully, those whose words I am about to share with you will not mind my doing so...
"Look for the positive in all of this... believe it or not you will find it."
-M.P.G.
"My mom was a 33 year old breast cancer survivor. She understood what you now understand about strength, fighting, fear, tears and renewed life. She was my heroine. I know you will be a heroine for someone."
-S.J.
"I find it so strange that reading your blog makes ME feel better. When all I want to do is make things better for you and for Ryan."
-H.H.
"In my 53 years I have never been witness to greater courage, strength, and grace than that which my sister displayed through each of her battles [with cancer]. That's what it takes to beat back the beast and I know you have that in you. No matter how difficult the day, never lose sight of that. You are courageous, strong, and graceful, you will succeed!"
-B.B.
"Stay positive and joyful."
-S.J.
"Your courage, strength and gift of words is touching more people than you'll ever know. My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1969 and lived a long full life."
-W.W.
"Truth be told, I am in awe of you. You are honest, funny, articulate, and so very brave. Cancer is an odd thing. It changes everything you thought you ever knew about anything. A terrible gift, I guess. I've had breast cancer twice, 5 years apart. For me it was easy - I had mastectomies, no chemo or radiation. Mentally, I learned a lot about myself, my self confidence, and how I viewed the world around me. It is no lie to tell you that you will be utterly changed, and better for it."
-S.B.
"The wisdom gained from a bad experience means your life will be altered. Normal before the experience cannot be revisited because you cannot unlearn what you have learned. You are now trailblazing the path of your new normal, and in time, new normal will feel as comfortable as old normal. You are beautiful. You are wise. You are loved. You are Phoebe 2.0 - new features, new functionality, based on the original version, but now even better!"
-T.H.
And finally - this is from an email I got last week from knitting dad. It answers the lip question that was raised a couple weeks ago, and also just makes my heart melt...
"It's been 2 weeks since my lip procedure. The doctor said it is healing nicely and there is no evidence that they missed a spot. That is a HUGE relief for me.
I wish I could express myself in writing like Phoebe does. The past 2 weeks I've been so depressed. When I get that way I struggle to see the good things and be positive. I couldn't get myself out the door to run or even walk... Today after my doctor appointment I ran home 4 miles."
"Look for the positive in all of this... believe it or not you will find it."
-M.P.G.
"My mom was a 33 year old breast cancer survivor. She understood what you now understand about strength, fighting, fear, tears and renewed life. She was my heroine. I know you will be a heroine for someone."
-S.J.
"I find it so strange that reading your blog makes ME feel better. When all I want to do is make things better for you and for Ryan."
-H.H.
"In my 53 years I have never been witness to greater courage, strength, and grace than that which my sister displayed through each of her battles [with cancer]. That's what it takes to beat back the beast and I know you have that in you. No matter how difficult the day, never lose sight of that. You are courageous, strong, and graceful, you will succeed!"
-B.B.
"Stay positive and joyful."
-S.J.
"Your courage, strength and gift of words is touching more people than you'll ever know. My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1969 and lived a long full life."
-W.W.
"Truth be told, I am in awe of you. You are honest, funny, articulate, and so very brave. Cancer is an odd thing. It changes everything you thought you ever knew about anything. A terrible gift, I guess. I've had breast cancer twice, 5 years apart. For me it was easy - I had mastectomies, no chemo or radiation. Mentally, I learned a lot about myself, my self confidence, and how I viewed the world around me. It is no lie to tell you that you will be utterly changed, and better for it."
-S.B.
"The wisdom gained from a bad experience means your life will be altered. Normal before the experience cannot be revisited because you cannot unlearn what you have learned. You are now trailblazing the path of your new normal, and in time, new normal will feel as comfortable as old normal. You are beautiful. You are wise. You are loved. You are Phoebe 2.0 - new features, new functionality, based on the original version, but now even better!"
-T.H.
And finally - this is from an email I got last week from knitting dad. It answers the lip question that was raised a couple weeks ago, and also just makes my heart melt...
"It's been 2 weeks since my lip procedure. The doctor said it is healing nicely and there is no evidence that they missed a spot. That is a HUGE relief for me.
I wish I could express myself in writing like Phoebe does. The past 2 weeks I've been so depressed. When I get that way I struggle to see the good things and be positive. I couldn't get myself out the door to run or even walk... Today after my doctor appointment I ran home 4 miles."
HOORAY for that!
And a huge thanks for ALL of the amazing cards, presents, care packages, and support I received from everywhere and everyone during my ordeal. (And this does not even include the slew of emails I have yet to reply to or the ump-thousand facebook messages that I haven't even READ all of yet!) I am humbled and honored to be a source of inspiration to those who have been following me, and thank you all for inspiring me to keep going and keep staying positive through all of this. You are all wonderful!!!
Love love love, Phoebe
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