On December 3, 2012, I was diagnosed with triple negative, aggressive breast cancer. I had no idea what that meant.
As news of my diagnosis of breast cancer spread, people started calling and emailing me with love notes and questions. Very quickly, I got overwhelmed. I had doctors to visit and lots to do. Not having a clue how one ‘does’ breast cancer, I sent out a mass email to everyone who wanted to know more and those I thought would want to know…Dear Community of Family and Friends… What came back was knowledge that I am loved beyond anything I could have foreseen. People were kind, compassionate, loving, and practical. They offered to bring me food, go to the doctor with me, go to surgery with me, stay the night with me if I was lonely, play me music, sing to me, send me flowers, clean my house, and so much more. It felt sacred and I felt like I was on a journey of love, of a new kind. A friend from work, Jean, said it sounded like a love tsunami. And the love tsunami stayed in motion for the next eight months, from diagnosis until the last treatment ended and my doctors declared me launched beyond breast cancer.
As has been said, if you share your concerns and sorrows they divide, and if you share your joys and happiness, they multiply. My journey is truly an example of this.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.
– -Epicurus, philosopher (c. 341-270 BCE)
Jen, I struggled with your Love Tsunami. I have always been an outsider/one who stood outside and was never part of a crowd. I did not want to be part of a list of hundreds of people. Especially since my partner is a breast cancer survivor, and I experienced this journey alongside her, I wanted to relate to you as individual to individual and be there if you had questions or needed support.l. Still, I released m own preferences as I realized that this was YOUR journey and YOUR path and what YOU needed to do to heal. I also realized that I had to let go of my narcissism: this was not about MY need to connect with a friend who was going through what my partner had gone through, and MY need to provide support it was about YOUR needs and what YOU needed in order not only to survive but to THRIVE. And thrive you have. I am delighted by this blog, and by the fact you have put your wonderful art up there.
You have been an inspiration to me in your journey as an artist. Your example caused me to have the courage to also start creating art and take risks in sharing it with others as you have.
Blessings on your journey!
Thank you, Laurie!
It has been a long while since I checked in on this website.