From the Director…
“Cancer. Cancel.”
It was going to be a late dinner, yet another on edge day trying to figure out what was going on with my grandmother. Then my phone began to buzz. Just like Vivian Bearing, I too had to sit down. I did not sit, but rather collapsed onto the cold tile. I don’t really remember what happened after I hit the ground, except that my pull back into reality was my dog licking my face. It was her attempt to say, “Mommy, everything will be ok.” My grandmother had been diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma.
I feel that I can take the liberty to assume that each person in our audience has a connection one way or another to this awful disease. Whether it was myself as an adult seeing the matriarch of our family slowly disappear, or as a child trying to understand the big words my parents were telling me in regards to my grandfather, the call that my great aunt who had taken care of my great uncle with his battle was now in one herself. Or worse still, the two times in my life that I have been left alone waiting for a test to see if I too would be found “positive”.
Cancer, in any form, is a demon lurking in the shadows of our society. It seems each corner you turn something is said to cause it, but what can cure it? Throughout my grandmother’s treatment we each sought a new remedy. Whether it was a new form of research, a holistic approach or even some far off country’s tribal cure; and yet nothing.
Like Vivian, I remember the moment when my grandmother made the decision to, “…just let it stop.” I had never encountered hospice in our lives. What did this mean? Well, like Vivian, it meant that if anything should happen, the doctors could do nothing. She was just going to live the last days in peace at home. No more treatments, no more tests, no more pain. In those last few weeks I had the opportunity to stay each afternoon with her. These days were filled with re-runs of Matlock, tapioca pudding or ice cream (depending on her mood), washing her hair, helping the nurse change her bedding and stories. So many stories! Many things in our lives are said to be priceless, but those days were. Nothing in this world can take them from me.
Throughout our journey with this show we have learned stories of survivors, stories of the victims, stories of love, hope and loss. This message needs to be shared. We need to know we are not alone when this unimaginable monster enters our lives. We need to know that there are friends in loss with us, surviving just as we are, one day at a time.
Please, do not take this story lightly; also, do not forget the messages of Vivian. If you suspect something is out of the normal, go and get it checked. Do not miss opportunities to connect with other human beings, on any level. Do not go through life alone, whether in joy or in heartache.
We thank you for letting us share this story with you today, and for helping us also share this story at the state level. We never know what each day will bring. We never know when our last day will come. Fill these times with love, laughter and family.
Tag,
W
