Courage

Lately, I've found it impossible not to cry (I'm not talking shed-a-tear cry, I'm talking get some tissues and hope the neighbor doesn't stop by--cry) when I get letters from St. Jude Hospital. True, I am a bleeding heart and a crier, so it doesn't take much. But I was particularly touched by this 4-year-old girl, Kylie, wearing a SuperGirl costume, bicep curled and a tough face to match. They talked about her courage to fight cancer and how strong she was in spirit. I think the part that gets me the most is the unpredictable part of the story, where her mom came in one night and unexpectedly found her arm was hurting, or she had a lump, or something and then--whammo--they get the worst news a person can get....especially for a little person. I was basically bawling while I was writing down my credit card information for a monthly commitment to the hospital. These days, I pretty much give money to anyone who asks--and the requests just keep coming faster and faster. I figure, even if I can't give a lot--if everyone gave a little, what they could, it would help so much.




There's also a small selfish part of me that thinks, if my donation can help another child and somehow spare my family from such grief and heartache, I will give all the money we have. I also imagine, if one day we are traveling to Tennessee for St. Jude's hospital and we can't afford the millions of dollars of tests and treatments, I hope some mother would see a picture of Barrett's brave face and get out her checkbook, too.

So many things in this world just don't seem fair. It's easy to focus on the negative. In the bookmark they sent, it flipped those thoughts around and showed the weakness of cancer with a little poem:

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited

It cannot cripple love

It cannot shatter hope

It cannot corrode faith

It cannot destroy peace

It cannot kill friendship

It cannot suppress memories

It cannot silence courage

It cannot invade the soul

It cannot steal eternal life

It cannot conquer the spirit