About a year ago I was chatting with a coworker at the registers when she told me how she hadn’t been feeling too well lately. I told her to go to the doctors - “I’m sure its nothing serious but you should go check to be sure”. Two weeks later she was in the hospital because they found a tumor in her side. A few months later I heard she had been released from the hospital. A few more months later I heard she was walking around and doing much better. Last week I heard she was back in the hospital under care to keep her comfortable in her last few days. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given only two weeks.

“Would you like to write a card and send it to her?”

But what was I supposed to write?

“Don’t worry, she knows shes dying… shes accepted it. So don’t feel like you have to avoid talking about it…”

But WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO WRITE!?

“Think about what you’d want someone to say to you if you only had two more weeks left to live.”

After thinking over it I knew exactly what I wanted to say. What I would want for someone else to say to me. I don’t need any cliches… any false hopes… any sympathy or pity. I would want someone to tell me how much I meant to them. If I was able to help them, guide them, impact them and inspire them in any way. So I wrote to her. I told her how grateful I am to have met someone as sweet, caring and compassionate as her. How her jokes and laughs always made me smile. How I am going to miss seeing her around. I wrote about specific memories and dialogues we’ve shared and how I remember her words of wisdom. How being able to chat with her during slow times at work helped pass the time and how she always laughed at my lame jokes. What I loved about her personality. How proud I was of how strong and courageous she has been through all her sufferings. How blessed we all were to have gotten to know someone like her. Letting her know that I will always remember her. And that the next time I see her will be in our Father’s Kingdom. Always with my love and prayers.

Doris, may you always continue to smile that beautiful smile of yours

// A reminder to live life to the fullest because you never know what tomorrow may bring//