PLANET EARTH - It’s World Cancer Day, did you remember to make cookies and bring them to work/school? No, of course not. Not even I would do that – this isn’t the kind of event you want to even see on the calendar. Really, until this year, I never felt like it was even worth mentioning. Cancer happened right here, to my family and friends. Right where I am. Right here on my own body. Who cares about the rest of the galaxy.
As I age, (and thank God I am still aging, right?) I realize that things like this DO matter. The cancer in my family history started back in Germany, where my family is from. Now I have people I correspond with all over the planet that I care for and worry about and hate that they are struggling with cancer and its aftermath. Sweet Bunny in Australia is gone, but her husband still makes me laugh. Beautiful Sara in Ireland may have lost her hair but certainly not her wonderful wit and humor. A twitter friend in Japan who’s name I can’t even pronounce fights with quiet valor – and of course my lovely girls at Pearl Harbor; bald but magnificent. When I was sick, I was told my friends from all over prayed for me. From Gujarat to Galveston, and other places far and wide.
Yep, World Cancer Day matters. ‘I know this because I hear from the world every day and I hear everyone saying the same thing. One voice, many languages. Find.A.Cure.’