A World Turned Upside Down After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Recently I watched some of the coverage of the devastation that has occurred across not only in my country from the hurricanes and fires but also for other world events. I watched coverage of those people who lost family and friends in those parts of the world and couldn’t begin to imagine what they were feeling. And then my mind wandered to thoughts of how everything can be changed forever in a single moment and how fragile life really is. And I remembered then what it was like after I receive the word that I had breast cancer.

“After all, I truly believe that this is the nature of most human beings and in times of crisis, everyone helps everyone else in whatever manner they can.”Barbara Jacoby

Many turned away from the news stories and buried themselves in other programming but I don’t really think that it is because they didn’t care or weren’t concerned because it didn’t happen in their areas. I think that it was because they didn’t want to confront the reality of the devastation, the loss of so many lives, the extent of injuries and the photos of all of the people who did survive who were left without homes and food and water and had no idea of how they could possibly keep going. And then I couldn’t help but wonder, what if something like that had happened to me today?

I know how truly fortunate I am. I know that the most important thing in my life has always been Almighty God. And I have the best husband in the world and I absolutely treasure the person that he is and the love and caring that he gives to me every single day. I have only a few family members left and they live on the other side of the country but I know that they are always there for us and that is something that money can’t buy. I have wonderful friends  and we all look out for one another. All of that means more to me than I could ever express. And that is when I realized that if something like a devastating event happened in my area today, as long as my husband and our families and friends all made it through, we would be just fine.

The reason I know that is that I have seen the power of people united before. I have seen people gather and help one another at times of crisis. No, I am not naïve enough to believe that everyone is that way. However, it was in that moment when I realized that should some major event occur in my area, I really had nothing to fear.

As has happened in the past, I would again turn to the Almighty God and then to my husband. And once again I know that I will be surrounded by people who would all help each other, those who quite often put the safety of others ahead of their own, those who have compassion and caring to soothe those who are frightened and those who would contribute everything they have to the good of everyone around them. After all, I truly believe that this is the nature of most human beings and in times of crisis, everyone helps everyone else in whatever manner they can.