A New Month to Raise Awareness to an Old Enemy and Honor a Few Special Women in My Life

It's October and that means Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It means raising our awareness to this potentially deadly disease, it means rededicating ourselves to self-exams, it means mammograms, it means giving financially to the cause.

But to me, it also means honoring special women in my life who have stared cancer in the face with dignity, humor and strength despite fear and loathing of the enemy.

My mother, Florence, is one of these women. An intensely private person, she would cringe if she knew I was telling the world her story. I tell it, however, out of love and respect for her journey. She has battled with a form of slow-growth lymphoma for eight years. She hates needles but has endured treatments and blood tests with quiet dignity. She also spent the last two years of my father's life setting aside her needs while she helped him with his.

When my friend, Sandra, received the news that she had a small but fast growing ovary and uterine cancer, she did not hesitate to face the diagnosis head on. Her mother suffered from the same disease and knowing that the odds were against her, Sandra opted for radical surgery. What she wasn't totally prepared for was the after-effects of the chemo and radiation. Blessed by relief she experienced from alternative medicine (accupuncture, therapeutic massage, etc) but dismayed by the lack of insurance coverage, she founded her own non-profit. It will provide financial assistance to cancer patients who are being treated with Western medicine but desire relief through Eastern practices. (I will post more on that in future blogs.)

My friend, Lorri, is the poster child for breast cancer in our circle of friends. A humble and God-filled woman, she would hate that description of herself. But the fact remains that she has helped untold number of women also suffering from breast cancer through her blog http://lorriscancerupdates.blogspot.com She has shared the reality of her journey with grace, truth and laughter ~ and in doing so has inspired others in the face of their battle.

The rock for Florence, Sandra and Lorri has been love ~ love from family, love from friends, love from their caregivers, even love from strangers. The greatest love of all, however, has been the love of God, their Father and Maker. While their walks with Him are at different levels of intimacy, He has been their strength and their salvation, their joy and their shoulder to lean on, their comforter from fear, sorrow, anger and even at times, of self-pity.

Thank You, Lord, for these special women. Thank You for not abandoning them in their time of need. While we will never understand why they had to battle cancer, we know that all things are under Your control. We also know that Your love is unfathomable and Your thoughts are beyond our understanding. Thank You for presence of Florence, Sandra and Lorri in my life. ~Amen