{Theirs} Happy Miraculous Monday!

A little over a week ago my family and I participated in a Relay for Life event.  Our road to relay for began 5 years ago when my husband’s (boyfriend at time) sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  We were going to surprise her by participating in her honor.  For us this was a way to show our support.  Sadly, her battle with cancer ended not long after we made the decision to relay.  Nevertheless we decided to move forward with our fundraising efforts and walk in her memory.

A couple of years later my aunt informed me that she had cancer and had been battling it for months.  No one in my family had told me because they wanted me to focus on school and raising my daughter (at the time I was a single parent).  They knew I had a lot on my plate and they didn’t want me to worry.  Each time the doctors placed a timeframe on her life she caused them to eat their words pulling through and seemingly beating cancer.  I later found out she was back in the hospital – fighting.  The whole time she had been sick she did not want me to see her.  She didn’t want me to remember her in her current state.  Finally she allowed me to come visit and while initially she didn’t look exactly like herself when she saw me she smiled the most beautiful smile and for several moments it felt like nothing had changed.  We laughed and held hands just like we did when I was a little girl.  And then one day I received a phone call.  I immediately left work to drive to the hospital but was too late.  Her fight had ended.

Cancer was no stranger to my life.  When my brother was very small (a toddler) he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  My parents were eventually encouraged to take him home and love him because that was all that was left to do.  This month my brother will be celebrating 26 years of life.  For me, my brother is the reason I believe in miracles.  He is our miracle.

{Relay for Life 2011 t-shirt}

While at relay I heard countless stories.  Stories told by those fighting cancer, those who beat cancer, and those who lost loved ones to cancer.  For me it was reiterated that cancer leaves no one untouched.  I was reminded how precious life is and that the challenges that I face on a daily basis are nothing in comparison to what someone battling cancer must face.  I was reminded of the power of hope and what can happen when people come together to support something they believe in.

I wanted to share this with you today because I myself in need of a reminder of how precious life is.  Over the fast few days I haven’t felt all that great.  I woke up thinking about all the things wrong in my life rather than focusing on what was right.  I spent the morning seeing my glass as half empty and while I realize that I have so much to be grateful for, for a moment I forgot that simply to be alive is a gift in itself.

And so my lovelies I wish you a miraculous Monday.  May your eyes and hearts be open so that you might see and reflect on your own miracles.  May you realize the gift it is simply to be alive.

xo.