Dear Cancer,
I promised myself when becoming a published writer that I wouldn’t feed into the “An Open Letter To...” cliché. But you pushed me to that point.
Where do I begin? I wish I had enough words to say what I want to say. I wish the dictionary did. I wish you were put face to face with yourself, as I simply cannot think of anything more evil. You just don’t care. You don’t discriminate. In fact, maybe you actually seek out the best and most important victims, and target them at times you know will be earth shattering. You prey on the strong, not the weak. You break them down until they’re at their absolute lowest, and then kick them again. I would love to personally fight you, head on, if only I could make you feel even a glimpse of what you’ve made others feel. You’re a joke. You’re not mysterious; there are people who have won your sick game. You’re the most unfair, heartless, burdening thing on the planet. You strip people of everything that makes them, them. You force people to fight battles they cannot and do not want to fight. You instill fear. You ruin relationships, whether it’s friends, family, spouses, children, or siblings. You plant hate and spread it through every feasible region in a body. You love watching it grow and multiply. I think the absolute worst, is that you let people think they’re winning. They’ll get better for a few weeks, see a sudden breakthrough, and regain some hope-that’s when you strike worse. I hate you. I will always hate you. No one deserves what you give. There is no rhyme or reason as to why you do what you do to people and their families. You make those trying to help those you victimize feel helpless; what are they honestly supposed to do? You make even the most gifted with words completely speechless. Most of all, you make us question everything. We sit and go over it again and again for hours about what we’re supposed to even trust anymore. How are we to believe that this is someone’s will, or that there’s some bigger plan involved when you take over someone’s life? Even if there is, you make people feel selfish for still wanting those you affect with them, where they should be.
I wish this was the turning point of the article where I find some sort of positivity or maybe a call to action-aside from being charitable to organizations that are for awareness or fighting the cause. I wish there was more I could say to truly express what cancer has ripped away from so many. To be honest, there isn’t. What is this life without the ones you love to share it with healthy and happily by your side? If there’s anything I can say, it’s this: hug each other more. Say you’re sorry even when you don’t want to. Text each other when you arrive safely. Take photographs, laugh at the stupid jokes. I’m sorry that there’s nothing more to say, there just isn’t.
