What is the meaning of this New Year's Eve Song? Auld Lang Syne is about old
friends who have parted and meet again. To celebrate their long friendship, they
share a drink together and reminisce of memories from long ago. The basic
message is that we should not forget our old friends and should celebrate a
reunion with them. Hold them dear.
Tonight I celebrate with my best friend. I hold him dear refusing to let him go and reflect how important he is to me. Scott is officially cancer free! It has been one hell of a year and I'm so happy to shake it's dust off my feet and move forward.....As is Scott!
This blog has had thousands of readers which has truely amazed us. Although we've been deeply distrurbed by how many are touched by cancer; we are equally elated and encouraged by all the stories of "victory".
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting a man who's life was quickly engulfed by the dark arms of cancer during what was suspose to be the most joyous and magical times of his and his wife's life. He has kindly written a brief letter of encouragement for our readers. I believe stories like this are vital to those facing this daughnting battle of life. There truely is so much to be thankful for. Armed with a positive outlook is neccesary in the cancer battle. Cloacked in the love and kindness of family and friends is what will get you through to the other side.
Thank you Cameron Von St. James for your letter.
http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/cameron/
http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/
Cancer and the Holidays: How We Made It
Every family looks forward to spending the holiday season together. It is time for sharing, talking, and laughing among family and friends that you love, and giving thanks for all you have. My wife and I were blessed to welcome our daughter Lily into the world in August of 2005, and anticipated creating many new holiday traditions and memories with each coming year. Three days before Thanksgiving, however, my wife, Heather was diagnosed with cancer. Despite it being Lily's precious first Christmas, our plans were abruptly put on hold.
Our little girl was just three and a half months old when her mother was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The future did not look bright, and I often struggled with the uncertainty that this illness would cause our little family. I tried to stay positive, but I couldn’t help but envision the worst. Would I lose my wife and have to raise our daughter alone? Would we have to spend all of our life savings and go broke in an attempt to pay for treatments, just to lose her anyways? These were all questions that went through my mind while everyone else was planning for the holidays; it was difficult to find much of anything to be thankful for.
Despite the diagnosis, we did our best to celebrate Thanksgiving that year. My wife's family flew in to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with us. We prepared a big holiday meal and then sat down together to discuss Heather's illness and how Heather's family would help through this difficult time. It was a conversation that I had been dreading for several days, but I knew we had to do it.
Everything regarding our finances had to be discussed. Our assets, bills, debts and even Lily's childcare costs were addressed. I knew that we could not do it alone, but listening to the facts of all our financial obligations and the ever present reality of our steadily declining income was almost too much to bear. Feelings of hopelessness and despair spread through my mind. I felt embarrassed and ashamed that I could not get my family through this ordeal on my own, and once again I thought in that moment that I had nothing to be thankful for. It would be years before I could see clearly how mistaken I was to look at it that way.
Years later, I came to the realization of what that day really meant and the impact it had on our family. While I felt ashamed that I could not solely provide for my family, I see clearly now that what was truly important was that we were all together as a family and that we actually had family members who cared and loved us enough to help. They dropped everything in their own lives to be with us in our time of need, and offered to make huge sacrifices for our well being without a moment’s hesitation. We were truly blessed to have them in our lives.
This holiday season, I urge you to remember what you can be thankful for. In my case, that was the kindness and love of our family and friends. In addition, we have a healthy little girl to cherish and love for years to come. Despite all the odds, Heather did beat her mesothelioma and we have since spent seven Christmases together as a family. We look forward to many more to come and hope that our story can inspire hope in all those who are currently fighting cancer this holiday season.
