To Carson, and Everyone in Our Community, With Love

by3dandelions

713 followers

Updated 9 years ago

Community, It's Much Bigger Than You Might Realize

I belong to the community of parents whose children have been diagnosed with cancer and believe me, this is not a community that seeks an increase in membership. As a parent who has lost a child to cancer, I can hardly begin to express the overwhelming gratitude, sadness and relief that I felt for Carson and his family the morning that his post, "We're Home and Our Son is Cancer Free!" came to my inbox, and every day since. I did not need to know Carson personally to feel saddened that he had joined my community, nor to feel joyous and grateful for the title of his post.

Unfortunately, families battling childhood cancer, celebrating cancer-free announcements and honoring the memory of those lost, are a large community. I can't say it ever gets easier, learning of another child who has been diagnosed with cancer, but unfortunately, for all of us parents who have heard the words, "your child has cancer," it is not quite as unbelievable or shocking to learn of a child with cancer, as it is for many others. Within this community that we never asked to join, it is a daily knowledge that children, far too many of them, do, in fact, battle cancer.

Since the death of my daughter thirteen years ago, I have volunteered for The St. Baldrick's Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding childhood cancer research, by organizing fundraising head-shaving events in my local area. http://www.stbaldricks.org/campaigns/lakesarea There is yet another community here, those of us working to end childhood cancers. And in being a member of this community, I have gotten to know far too many children and families in this battle. The childhood cancer community is not one that I asked to join, but it is a community I will always belong to and doing as much as I can to hopefully end childhood cancers one day, is my way of being ok in this community.

During the early morning hours of July 8th, I headed outside to my deck, with a cup of coffee and my laptop, just as the sun started to rise, to read emails. It was a beautiful morning and I was grateful for my life that allowed me to start my workday amidst the birds chirping their morning routine and the sun on the rise across my skin. My coffee was hot, there was a slight breeze in the air and I settled into my seat, opened my laptop, ready to get started.

I decided to start my day off here at WA. I'd not long been a member of the community at WA and when I saw Carson's blog titled "We're Home and Our Son is Cancer Free!", my brain was, at first, a little confused...this is WA, not St. Baldrick's, right? Even with the wonderful statement of cancer-free, I was hesitant to click and read on. My heart said, no, please, not another child, not another family...because even though there is good news, I know that the road leading there was not easy. I clicked on the link and truly started my day at WA.

As I read the blog, I realized, not only did I join a supportive online affiliate community here at WA, I joined a community of real people, with real joyous moments and real hardships. I had already been grateful that I had accidentally stumbled across WA and everything there is to learn here. I had already reached out to the community with questions. And I had already been enjoying the community at WA. But on this morning, I realized, there is so much more here than training. I finished reading and I closed my laptop.

I headed for my bike and followed the five-mile path around the lake, the summer morning air warming as I peddled as fast as I could. I stopped at the beach, put my feet in the sand and gazed out across the water, with the rising sun's rays glistening all across it. I was alone on the beach, tears streaming down my face, as the swan family, with their three growing babies, swam by. I sat. And I cried. I cried for everyone's hardships. And I cried for everyone celebrating joy. I was grateful to be alive on this beautiful morning to celebrate another child who had been told he was cancer free. I got back on my bike and headed home to kiss tops of my beautiful children's heads, who were still sound asleep.

No matter what our experiences are in life, we are all part of a community, the community called humanity. Every road life takes us down, we always have the opportunity to embrace our community and allow our experiences to connect us to those around us, and to share with, and learn from, each other. It's what makes us human. And it is what reminds us that, no matter how different we all may seem to each other, each and every one of us will experience grief and joy, and so, we will always be connected and belong to community.