"FOUL EVIL SPIRIT..."

Good stuff from Chile. That news makes me happy and speaks of courage and creativity. Most of all, healing.

I was having dinner with a friend last night and she was telling me about a friend of hers who is undergoing cancer treatments. Her friend is dealing with another form of cancer that is not what she was treated for in the past. It has metastasized into areas of her body and her progress has been slow, challenging and full of setbacks. For the first time since my friend has been keeping me updated, her optimism for her friends recovery is waning.

My friend was telling me that she put a card in the mail to her friend recently, and was distressed because she couldn't think of a special message to write in the card. The only thing she could come up with was signing her name. She felt as if she had let her friend down.

Bear in mind, my friend has constantly kept up on the status of her friend, sent her meals, visited her, etc. However, this one perceived "lack of support" had my friend concerned about not being there for her friend.

Her question to me was, "What should I have done?"

I replied, "You did it."

Once, during the early stages of my experience, I was being kind of bashful about receiving all of the goodness and grace that was being directed to me. I vocalized my concerns to another friend and her response was, "Your friends are unable to supply and direct the medications that are being used for your physical recovery. However, we want to help in some way with your recovery. Please allow us to do what we can." It was such a compassionate and forceful statement, that I didn't have to think twice.

So, to my friend last night, I explained to her that I can't recall specifically what was written in every card and note I received, but I recall that I received cards and when I received them, I knew that the sender(s) of the card was(were) holding me in their thoughts and prayers. That's what mattered most. I told my friend that even though her friends outlook may not be all the positive right now, the card is a moment of healing. It may not be the ultimate cure, but it creates a moment in her friends life when her friend will receive a drenching of compassion and care. Trust me, from this side of it, it's a big deal.

I also told her, "If you don't know what to write in there, but you want to write something, find an inspirational quote, or even a joke. online. But know, when that card is received, it will never been perceived as something perfunctory."

You see, even on the medical side of my experience, there wasn't one single treatment moment or event that advanced me through the process, it was the combination of all of the moments.