Time Out

Time OutThis has always been a month of sadness for myself and my family but also of joy. From when I was a little girl I remember the holiday celebrations at my Grandparents house and how much fun we had with our Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and our own immediate family. We would gather around to a huge Thanksgiving celebration everyone popping in at different times of the day but by the end of the evening the entire family was together and using the whole house as our gathering spot. This was the start of our holiday celebration that ended with a huge New Years Eve party! Upstairs my Grandmother and Grandfather lived while downstairs my Great grandmother lived with her son, daughter-in-law, daughter, and two granddaughters. We had so much fun!

When I was five years old that light was dimmed when my Grandfather passed away on Christmas Eve but he made my Grandmother promise to see to it the children enjoyed Christmas as if he was still here. Of course this time of the year it's hard not to remember him and the wonderful times we had with him for the short time we had him in our lives. Those memories bring a feeling of warmth, joy, and love. My Grandfather was a wonderful man who loved his holidays and loved to see the children happy. His love for his family was so strong it could be felt long after he was gone.

When my mother passed away twelve years ago on November 28 she too made my father promise that Christmas would go on as if she was still here. It was her favorite holiday and she didn't want anything to spoil it. She wanted us to celebrate it as if she was still here with us and to celebrate it for her as well. I still do but there isn't a day that passes that I don't think of her. This time of the year is especially hard but I remember the good times we had together and I remember how wonderful it was to share my happiness with her and how good it felt to have her not just as my mother but as my best friend.

I guess I'm writing about this today because I just received word about some relatives of mine and I want to know what it is about this season that brings out the illness in people. My mothers younger brother is sick with a fever of 105 and no one knows what is wrong with him. He's been sick for three days now and we are waiting to hear from the doctor as to what it could be. Her oldest sister is being operated on at this moment for uterine cancer. At 76 years old you would think she would be able to live in peace but no, now she too has to face what my mother had to. As if all of this wasn't enough my Aunt's daughter-in-law, the one being operated on at this moment, is also being operated on today for breast cancer. One phone call from my sister and my world is in a total turn around. What is it with this decease that sneaks up on poor unsuspecting souls and zaps them? How is it that it has so much power and no one has the answers yet how to battle it? Make no mistake fighting cancer is fighting a war!

Last year on December 23 my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39. I am relieved to tell you she is alive and well. Two months ago she was given a clean bill of health and has returned to work but she still has to go through surgeries and of course she isn't out of the woods yet. It did reach her lymphnodes so God only knows if it will pop up someplace else.

This holiday season I am not asking for anything for myself. I am asking God to give this world a gift! A cure for cancer so people don't have to suffer any more and we don't have to see our loved ones torn apart by this disease. In my 49 years of life I have lost more family members to cancer than any other decease. I know the pain this causes first hand to sit and watch someone die from this disease. My Christmas wish is for a cure so no more of God's children have to be put through this pain of enduring the decease or of watching those they love suffer through it.