However, I got to visit a very special person today, who has being going through a hard time recently but continues to inspire me in many ways. My Aunt Chris is my mom's sister, and in the same week last September, my mom and my aunt were diagnosed with different kinds of cancer. My mom's cancer was much simpler than my aunt's and MUCH easier to take care of. My mom was considered cancer-free as of October, but that was not the case with Aunt Chris.
I was in the doctor's office the day she found out she had cancer, and it was possibly the worst thing I've ever had to witness. After months of pain from an unspecified source, the doctor finally ordered some additional testing that discovered a mass in her lung. After that doctor's visit, we went to Wendy's and enjoyed some chicken nuggets while reminiscing about my Grandma before spending hours in an oncology office where Aunt Chris would become a regular visitor. Many tears fell that day, and continue to fall because of the emotional and physical battle that cancer patients fight. We found out that the lung cancer was in several other places in her body, and she immediately started radiation, with chemotherapy to follow, and she continues to battle cancer to this day.
In the matter of seven months, her life has drastically changed, but her faith has grown, and that both encourages me and terrifies me. A few years ago, my cousins, Bryce and John, found another place they could call home with a family that welcomed them with open arms, and I am so glad that they encouraged Aunt Chris to join their Christian family. The community of friends she has built over the past few years is beautiful and so supportive - from showing up at doctors appointments (so that we hog an entire section of the waiting room) to cleaning up her house or making meals for her and making sure her fridge is stocked should her appetite come growling - even if she never asked for it. The only thing I have heard her ask for is prayers. She continues to smile and welcome people into her home from the chair that she has spent the last seven months sleeping in (for comfort reasons), and embracing every person with a hug. She's plugging away, fighting for her life in a way that I hope I never have to experience.
But if anything good has come from this (and I'm positive that something good has), it brought family back together. It reminded us that we all have people in our lives that would be there for us in a supportive and encouraging way, even if we don't ask for it or don't expect it. It has taught us that there is nothing more valuable in this world than time spent with the people we love, because if we don't embrace them while they are here, we will regret all the time that we lost when they are gone.
Aunt Chris, I am so incredibly proud of the fight you have gone through, and I am so glad you continue to fight every day. You are strong. You are beautiful. And I am so blessed to call you family.
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