Friends

It didn’t take long to recognize that during a chemo treatment at the Cancer Center that there are all types battling this disease.  The completely bald eighty year old man sitting in the waiting room holding his wife’s hand, the fifty something year old woman who sits next to me alone reading quietly during her drip, the twenty year old ‘boy’ across from me who just sits and stares at the TV and avoids contact at all costs.  Everyone has their own personal battle but I found that just sitting there for 5 hours at a time being completely somber was not really my cup of tea.  This should be a happy place….we are all getting the drugs we need to kill this assassin in our body.  Second round of chemo I would ask for a private room and invite friends!

My first choice of friends was an easy one.  Liz, Katherine and I have been friends for going on 20 years.  These are the ladies I would place my first phone call to if I were in a foreign country and wound up in jail.  They are strong, courageous and above all have amazing grace!

Many years ago, Liz lost her husband Todd and unborn son in an auto accident very shortly after their wedding.  I remember, like it was yesterday, rushing to Sparrow Hospital to be by her side and agonizing with her as she made the horrible decision to remove the love her life from life support.  Liz is one of those people I need in my life as a constant reminder of strength and courage.

 

Katherine is my parallel life friend.  We would meet our future spouse’s the same year, marry them the same year and would carry our first born children with due dates just five days apart.  I would go on to have Logan 13 months after the birth of Reese (oops!) but Katherine struggled a bit.  She would eventually be blessed with the news that she was pregnant with triplets!  We had no idea what a struggle this pregnancy would be for her.  Unfortunately all three of her beautiful boys would not make it and she would have to deliver them all stillborn.  Katherine and our friend Maureen would go on to make sure that no parent of a stillborn child would have to rely on the hospital’s group committal or bear the expense of a funeral service. Insert plug for the upcoming annual golf outing fundraiser for this endowment….www.ladiesteeparty.com.  I need Katherine in my life for her never give up attitude.

You can now see why these ladies were my first choice.  We sat in that private room and laughed and enjoyed every minute of just being together.  The nurse later told me how refreshing it was to have laughter in that place.  In fact, all the other nurses were jealous of her that day because she had ‘us’ as her patient.  I am certain that my new approach to chemo will radically change my outcome. 

Kids, choose your friends wisely!  You never know when you are going to need them by your side. 

God IS Good!