and the truth is, you never really now......

I don't ever want to take life for granted.  I hope that I never do.  I think sometimes that we all take things for granted, without realising it.  I say I hope that I never do, but I am sure there are days when I take things for granted.

Life is full of ups and downs, highs and lows and changes can happen in the blink of an eye.  Changes can happen at a moments notice and most often you are not ready for those changes. When those unexpected things come there, there are words that you never want to hear.

This past week or so has been tough.  My twin sister was holidaying in the U.S. and she was contacted by her husband who told her that he had stage 2 bladder cancer.  There is that dreaded 'C' WORD.  It's the word that you hope you will never hear and the word that you are never ever prepared to hear.  This week was dreadful because I was feeling so much for my sister and brother-in-law because they were thousands of miles apart having to deal with it all; the fear, the unknown, the future, all those things that go through your mind when you hear that you have something that can mean anything from life to death along the path.  I couldn't even imagine what they were going through and what they were both thinking and feeling. All I wanted was to be there and hug my sister, and I realise if that's what I was feeling, then how much worse must it have been for them.  Those feelings I'm sure must have gone from numbness to sadness to some sort of reality, but I'm guessing you never quite feel that life is ever the same again.  

At the moment I feel like cancer is everywhere around me.  Is it

becoming more common, are more people getting cancer, or do we just talk about it more today and are more aware of it?  Last year my niece's husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which thankfully is in remission.  He has a beautiful wife and two beautiful girls and they have all been through a lot.  I can't even begin to imagine how they must have felt as they worked their way through the diagnosis and the treatment; the shock, the tears and the reality of it all.

My nephew Daniel and his brother-in-laws are riding in The Ride to Conquer Cancer .... click here .. for the link to Daniel's personal page and to find out more. 

I think we can all donate money to help support this cause and that will assist in research, but another thing that we can all do is to become more aware of things like breast self-examination for example and not ignoring things that should NOT be there ... such as a lump in our breast.  My brother-in-law Terry, posted on Facebook and this is what he had to say to other people about this....

"NOTE: Anyone who has blood come out from anywhere it ain't supposed to - get it checked. I had one day with blood in urine back in mid July, and just because it stopped didn't mean it was fixed. DO NOT say "I'll be right!". Make sure you tell any stubborn males this."

Let's do what we as individuals can do in our own lives to strive to conquer this dreaded disease, while supporting the community where we can.

“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it.But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.”― Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall

I don't ever want to take life for granted.  I hope that I never do. So maybe when I do, I will realise and express gratitude for what I have because the truth is, you never really know....