In the earliest hours of this morning I learned one of my colleagues had to fly back to America because her sister who has cancer may be in the final stages. Today is her birthday. For the last week we have been talking about the party she was supposed to have tonight. Yesterday, another colleague and I went to choose her present and today none of that matters.
I am reminded of an email a good friend sent to me last year. It was the blog of her friend who was diagnosed with cancer at twenty-four, shortly after moving to Hong Kong where he was working in international finance. His story felt so close to home because I could identify with so many of his feelings and appreciate his anecdotes about Michigan from which he was an alumnus.
The other week I thought of all the stolen days and moments of our lives. The ones that are stolen by our anger, our impatience and the ugly parts of ourselves. The ones that we will look at when the end of our life is near and wish we could do over. When death is always around us, how are we still so careless with life?
When my friend sent me the link to the blog she wrote, "One of Naweed's last goals was to keep a blog that would inspire and motivate others to see the things that matter." Reading Naweed's blog taught me so much and helped me "see" in a way I could never have without him sharing his amazing story. May he rest in peace and may you too see the beauty and inspiration of his story.
http://survivorjourney.blogspot.com/search/label/It%20Begins
Also, I hope you can keep my friend's sister and her family in your good thoughts and prayers.
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