Dear Cancer,
I've never been one for confrontation or one to stand up for myself, but that is about to change here and now. Why? You may ask. Well really, it is simple. I am tired of you taking and taking from my life and from the lives of the ones around me.
I clearly remember our first encounter. I was young, maybe 5 or 6 years old, and I walked into the church my family attended regularly to find people with tear-filled eyes, instead of joyous smiles. Even to my naive and innocent eyes, it was obvious you were a villain. You had taken the life of one of my mother's friends. A friend who I loved and looked up to, a friend who had done nothing but spread joy to others and battle against you, until you threw the last punch.
As years passed, I continually became more familiar with you, despite my will to wish you away. I heard my parents talking to their friends about loved ones and parents battling against you. On a couple of different occasions, I stayed with sitters when my parents attended funerals of people who gave their all fighting you.
Then, one day we had our first encounter. You decided to pick your next battle with my grandfather. Unfortunately for you, he's a fighter -- stronger than anyone I know -- and you picked one of your smaller battles with him. You've had a few strong moments, but he's been kicking your tail for years now.
Some more time passed, and I slowly began to see how many peoples' lives you affect. We met again when I was in 6th grade. You chose my other grandfather to fight with this time. You attacked his liver. The doctors, that try their hardest to help those fighting you, said he only had a few weeks to live. He fought with you every day for almost two years, and then one of the hardest days of my life came, thanks to you.
I was sitting in eighth-grade science class when I got called to the office for dismissal. As soon as I heard my name over the intercom, my heart fell to the floor. I knew what you had done. You had taken my PaPa from not only me, but from the rest of my family, and all of his friends, too. And for that, I will never forgive you.
A few more years went by, and I was filled with dread when we met again. My grandmother was your next opponent. Luckily, the oncologists, whom I sure you cannot stand, caught you early this time and were fairly sure they got rid of you. As months passed, we became more and more certain that she had beaten you.
While I will never understand why you choose to pick on and defeat any individual, I have an especially hard time fathoming you when you pick children as your opponents. The summer before my sophomore year of college, you took a friend of mine at the age of 18. I sit here and complain daily about the stress of college life when I should be thankful that I have a life to live, period. How dare you take the life of someone who should have so much more to give and experience in this life?
Most recently, you decided to jump in the ring for round two with my grandmother. This time, a little more aggressively than the last. She's fighting you with everything she has. And as her granddaughter, I'm telling you to get out.
Stop taking from the lives of my loved ones, and from the billions of others lives around the world.
No well wishes,
Not your number one fan
