Over the past decade or so I have really come to admire my 89 year old grandmother. My grandparents were the typical old school traditional couple who had been together since they were 18 years old. My grandmother never did anything with finances or held a wage paying job while doing the cooking and cleaning for the family. So when my grandfather passed away from a pretty terrible brain tumor there was a lot of counseling about how the wives don't always do well with the transition and to temper expectations of remaining years.
Well, 13 years later she's still around having survived my grandfather's passing and a terrible and devastating 2 year battle with lung cancer by her only son. She had a hip replacement, survived a car crash where she was airlifted to a hospital and was in a coma for a week, a knee replacement, survived 3 different cancers (and associated chemo\radiation\surgeries) but never mopes or plays the victim card. She's selfless to fault. We found out about her first cancer when one of her friends called my mom to see how she was.
"Why didn't you tell us you had cancer and were having surgery?"
"Oh I didn't want to bother you with something trivial."
!!!
And she's not playing the martyr card either. She honestly doesn't want to trouble anyone with something a minor as cancer. She's tough but the way an old trusty battle ax is tough. Not flashy but always dependable and while it might chip it never breaks. She doesn't take from anyone but always gives and asks for nothing in return.
So once more she enters the cancer arena. Fourth different kind of cancer now and the second one this year. One of these days life will trip her up and throw something at her she can't survive. Once that day comes I won't have to despair that she went meekly but celebrate the fact that she went round after round spitting in the face of Death shouting 'That all you got?!'
I hope I have even a fraction of the magnanimity, courage, strength and toughness that she does
Well, 13 years later she's still around having survived my grandfather's passing and a terrible and devastating 2 year battle with lung cancer by her only son. She had a hip replacement, survived a car crash where she was airlifted to a hospital and was in a coma for a week, a knee replacement, survived 3 different cancers (and associated chemo\radiation\surgeries) but never mopes or plays the victim card. She's selfless to fault. We found out about her first cancer when one of her friends called my mom to see how she was.
"Why didn't you tell us you had cancer and were having surgery?"
"Oh I didn't want to bother you with something trivial."
!!!
And she's not playing the martyr card either. She honestly doesn't want to trouble anyone with something a minor as cancer. She's tough but the way an old trusty battle ax is tough. Not flashy but always dependable and while it might chip it never breaks. She doesn't take from anyone but always gives and asks for nothing in return.
So once more she enters the cancer arena. Fourth different kind of cancer now and the second one this year. One of these days life will trip her up and throw something at her she can't survive. Once that day comes I won't have to despair that she went meekly but celebrate the fact that she went round after round spitting in the face of Death shouting 'That all you got?!'
I hope I have even a fraction of the magnanimity, courage, strength and toughness that she does