Sandra,
I’ve taken a few moments to reflect on your beautiful and true post above, and you are right. These are the thoughts that have come to me as I’ve reflected as to why it is that bonds are felt on this message board.
Bonds between survivors, family members, are caregivers are so very strong. I experienced it first in the chemotherapy room at the oncologist’s office. There was a quiet, humble, and hopeful depth in the eyes of the patients there. Faith was visible (and it still is). Gratitude for love that surrounded us was genuine (and it still is). A Spirit burned to say that there are still good things to see, and meaningful things still yet to do (and it still does). Successes were celebrated (and they still are), because they give hope, they are life affirming, and they confirm the existence of miracles. Bad news is felt deep in the hearts of those who bond, as we know that we are really in a common fight and in a common walk, all of us. Because we are all dependent upon the same blessings, we share in them. We now live in that awareness.
What I experienced in the chemo room, I’ve experienced here.
When I was still in the hospital recovering from brain surgery, a friend gave to me a prayer that he had held in his prayer book for many years. “My Father, I thank you for adversity, for rocking my little boat, for the winds that seem too strong, and for the waves that threaten to capsize me. For all of these things drive me into Your loving arms.”
Survivors, family members and caregivers form such strong bonds for each other, I think, because we know by faith and by hope that we are all being held together in those loving arms. Because of this, we can be there for each other, we can keep our spirits high, and we can trust together in what we cannot see. We can encourage each other to find the grit that we need to see us through for as long as our circumstances permit us to do so.
We learn together that we can’t really get our old life back when cancer strikes, but rather that we have a new life now. That new life includes a deep appreciation and understanding of what other survivors, family members and caregivers have gone through and what we face ahead. That new life together is not what we would have chosen, but it is okay -- because the new life is as people who have discovered a deeper and more meaningful life in the fight.
I ramble. I’ll stop now, before I get “soft in the eye.”
Thanks for moderating an awesome discussion board.