Our Cancer Year (with apologies to Harvey Pekar)

I am a private person and don't usually do this sort of thing, but I feel a little bit obliged to talk about things. It has been a rough year for my friends and families. Not just issues with work and family, but cancer has been a huge burden and source of loss for them (and, by extension, me).

My daughter Heather, goes into surgery next Tuesday (July 28th) to have a lymph node removed and biopsied. Doctors, in the manner of their kind, prepare you for the worst and hope for the best. Heather shows no sign of infection, so their worst case scenario is cancer or an auto-immune disease. She has no insurance, so all of the medical expenses have been out-of-pocket for us. Fortunately, family has stepped up to help reduce the burden, but it has made her miss work and has impacted us financially.

This is not a cry for help or a request for financial aid, what it is, is me reaching out to you and saying a few things:

A) Hug your parents, your kids, your loved ones. Tell them you love them, it's worth it.
B) Put life into perspective. I work with an AIDS foundation in my spare time and have had many friends and family members impacted by cancer (I'm sure you have too). All of the little things and all of the anger and complaints about your life dwindle to nothing by comparison.
C) The financial and familial impact of this experience may make me short tempered and less tolerant. If I am, please forgive me.
D) These things will take first priority for me, that means other things take second and third place. My daughter comes first.

So, if I don't want your sympathy or your money, what do I want? Your prayers/invocations/good thoughts/secular humanist considerations for me and my family at this time, particularly my daughter Heather. My life has been one of miracles and I don't plan to run out of them now, but every little bit helps.

In other news, my daughter Katie is still in lock-up. She has court on August 13th and they are likely to send her home. The home in question may be mine and may be my ex-wife's home. The issue here is that Katie has not improved, she's gotten worse. DFACS is telling three different conflicting stories and the case workers I was dealing with have all resigned from the agency. So, where does that leave me? Back at square one. The courts have yet to punish Katie fully for her habitual violations of her probation. As a result, she has no more respect for the law than she did before, less in fact. She doesn't see them as a threat.

It's been a challenge. But, you know me, I'm invincible.

On the other hand, I have good friends and a good family. I never want for the love of good people. My life, as I say, is one of miracles and I am the luckiest son-of-a-bitch alive.

What's the point? I'm learning to share the burden, at least, I'm trying to.

Peace

Sometimes you need the words

This was said of me today, I needed it.

Good men make a girl feel safe, but Great men know when to pull them out of safe places.
Good men take care of things, but Great men know that you should take care of yourself.
Good men live day to day, Great men live in moments.
Good men climb, Great men jump.
Great men severely dislike bananas and root beer.
Good men watch, Great men play.
Good men overcome fear, Great men embrace it.