There are 12.7 million people in the world currently living with cancer. A third of those people will win that fight. It is no shocker that we know someone who has been affected by this disease.

When you know someone with cancer, your world seems to become smaller. Material things that you once obsessed over become pointless. You realize your problems over what to wear or what to eat that day, aren't as big as they seem. It's actually strange to say that you wished those were your problems.

Last summer, my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic, liver, and lung cancer. He was diagnosed the last week of July. My grandfather passed away on August 11th at 7:15 in the morning with family by his side. He had 2 weeks left to live. The cancer attacked his body, but he didn't show it. It's what they don't show that hurts the most. It's the fact that they might seem perfectly okay, but you know they're not okay at all. Within 2 weeks, my grandfather saw all his grandchildren who lived in and out of state, almost all his children, and lived long enough to celebrate my grandmother and his anniversary which was on the 6th of August. He even went out with my grandmother that day and they celebrated by getting a hot dog. Their logic was that as long as they were together, it was a good day. Now that's true love.

I remember the last time I saw my grandfather, knowing it was going to be the last time I would ever see him. Maybe his death was hard for me because it was the first person I was close to that I really loved who I knew was going to die. Or maybe it was because there was nothing I could do to help him. The problem with cancer is that it makes you feel helpless. It makes you feel like you cannot do anything for those around you who have it and you wish so badly you could just take it all away. I will never forget my grandfather's bright blue eyes staring into mine as we talked on the back porch. It was a sunny day, and I was fighting back tears because I knew it was going to be the last time. As hard as it was to fight back tears, I tried so hard to enjoy my time with him. Cancer cannot make you take away your love for someone; it brings to light how much you truly love and appreciate them. Maybe I was trying not to cry because of all the times I took for granted how great my grandfather was to me and my family. And I knew I had to make it up in just one short visit.

When you know someone with cancer, your views on relationships change. You learn that you never know when that persons last "good day" may be. Maybe today was truly their last "good day," and it was just like any other day. The thing with cancer is that it's so unpredictable and sneaky. It loves to break hearts. Cancer makes you realize how precious life is. When you know someone with cancer, life is valuable.

As much as you do, you never feel like it's enough to prove to someone how much they mean to you. You wish that by proving yourself and fighting alongside them would be enough to push the cancer out. But sad truth is that sometimes it never leaves.

Sometimes it pushes you to your limits. It makes you watch your loved one suffer, and you don't know what more you can do but be there for them. Let your love power out the pain, and maybe then they won't hurt so bad.

Life when you know someone with cancer feels fast. Time speeds up, and all you want is for it to slow down a little bit. It feels as though, you can never have enough time with the person you care so much about.

But the hardest part, is that life with cancer is inevitable. The cancer will run its course, and we learn to be patient. At the same time, we wish we were less patient. We want answers and more tomorrows when we take for granted the todays.

Most of all, when you know someone with cancer, it is a part of life. A part of life that we sadly must endure, but keep supporting to find a cure. So that hopefully one day, this "life with cancer" will be no more, but a life when we all know someone without it. When you know someone with cancer, there is hope. There is today. And there is a cure in our future.