To Cancer,

I don’t think I could start off writing to something as terrible as you with the word “Dear,” so I’ll just stick with “To.” The pain you put upon your victims is terrible and what you do to families when you take them is even worse.

I remember being told at a very young age that my grandmother was someone I would never get to meet. As I got older and questioned this I was told it was because she passed away from you--from cancer. That’s something nobody should have to hear. I didn’t know what you were then, and, quite frankly, I didn’t know how terrible you were.

All I knew then was that you took her from me before she even got to know I was going to come along. And then, you struck again.

When I was around 10, I was told that cancer was affecting my family again. Next thing I know, my mom is on her way to Boston with my aunt and some other family members for her treatment. Still, I didn’t understand. All I knew was that you took someone from me before, so what would stop you from doing it again? But she’s a fighter and that’s something she’s sure as hell proved these last seven years.

After my aunt's diagnosis, my family and I began doing Relay For Life to support other people whose lives were turned upside down from you coming into them. I began to have more of an understanding and truly realize how many lives you affected. After seeing how many people you really affect, my question is still “why?”

Why do you do this to so many people and to so many families? These people you inflict your pain and suffering on have families. They’re someone's mother, someone’s father, someone’s best friend. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. But what I do know, is that all of the people I know who got unlucky enough to have you thrown upon them are fighters.

They fight to become free of you and to stay free of you. That’s the fight of a lifetime and one they shouldn’t have to fight. So, cancer, screw you. I hope everyone continues to fight you off for as long as they can. But more importantly, I hope one day you don’t even exist.