Six years ago my life was pretty simple...my boys were in college, my husband was healthy, my job was fun, my house was starting to fall apart, but manageable, my social life was active...my life was good but I'm sure I complained about a gazillion things since that seemed to be the way I operated...
Then in October of 2006, the world stopped and nothing has been the same since...my beautiful niece, Allison, was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and for the next few months we all hung on a thread of hope that she would beat the odds and survive...she didn't...on January 9, 2007 that beautiful girl took her last breath here on earth and her spirit soared...and none of us have been the same...
For my sister, and her husband, and their other daughter...well, I can't even imagine how they survive...how they put one foot in front of the other...how they accept life for what it is and how they have not allowed sorrow and sadness to bring them down...it is a constant in their lives, but they "live" and while living they honor Allison.
They taught all of us how to grieve, and just as we were getting started on the lessons, Michael was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in September 2007...once again our lives were rocked by cancer...and this time, Michael was determined that he would survive, if for nothing else, then for Allison...because Allison taught her Uncle Mike how to die, he wanted to live for her...
And live he did, for almost three years...he didn't take any fancy trips, though he did go to Washington, D.C. to see Matt & Sarah and he did go to St. Louis to meet all of Allison's friends...he was content to be in his home, surrounded by family and friends, in the house he loved, in the town he loved, surrounded by love...and surround him we did!!
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