To those of us who have lost a loved one to cancer,
While February 4th is World Cancer Day, a day devoted to spreading awareness and finding a treatment for this awful disease, when we lose a loved one to cancer, every day is World Cancer Day. Every day we see all that cancer has stolen from us, and every day we clench onto hope that somebody someday can find a cure for this disease.
Sometimes we experience anger at the void that cancer has left in our lives, sometimes we experience sadness as we long for our loved ones again, and sometimes we experience confusion as we don't understand how any fates can allow a disease to consume so many incredible people.
But we still need to experience hope –– hope for a cure and hope we can immortalize the spirits of those who left us too soon from the disease.
My grandmother, who was one of my favorite people in the world growing up (and many other people's favorite person as well), lost her battle to this disease over four years ago. Sometimes her passing feels like yesterday, other times it feels like ages ago.
I could choose to remember how cruel cancer was, consuming someone who anybody would be privileged to know. I could choose to drown myself in grief that she is no longer physically here. I could choose to focus on the vacancy she has left in the lives of so many. But instead, I choose to recognize her bravery and her everlasting legacy that many people continue to commemorate to this day.
Through this experience, I have learned that cancer can kill somebody's physical presence, but that is almost the full extent of its capabilities.
Cancer is unable to kill our fervent hope and steadfast efforts to fight this disease. While we had to see our loved ones fight the aggression of the disease, we too can fight. We can pay forth efforts to one day find a cure in the name of those we love.
Cancer is unable to kill the spirits of those we love. Through us, the world can see all of these wonderful people who once graced this Earth. Whether we embody the kindness they once embodied, prompt the laughter they once prompted, live out the dreams of which they once dreamed, we can keep their spirits living on this planet. It is up to us to provide continuing reflections of people who were once among us.
Cancer is unable to kill legacies. Our loved ones all touched thousands of lives in ways that are unchangeable by time. Time can heal wounds, but it cannot erase the permanence of their actions, their kind words, their selfless efforts, their way in which they left the world a little better than it was before they entered it.
Cancer is unable to kill hope. Hope is the most vital instrument in the fight to cure cancer. Without the fiery flames of hope, we cannot spur doctors and scientists to devise a way to combat this disease. In times when cancer strikes and life becomes turbulent, we sometimes have trouble hanging onto the reins of hope. But cancer alone is not able to make our hope dwindle.
Because for us, February 4th and all other 364 days of the year are World Cancer Day. It's okay to sometimes feel the emptiness that cancer has left behind in our lives. This disease is evil and has taken away too many amazing souls. But it's never okay to relinquish our sense of hope that we can exterminate cancer forever.