This I Believe

Family

In a single moment a person can discover what is truly important in his or her life as well as find out who will stay with them until the end. When I still attended middle school I was informed that my uncle had been diagnosed with cancer. Being at a young age I did not completely understand the seriousness of the disease. Of course I knew about cancer and the process in which to rid the disease, but understanding the definition of cancer is entirely different than living through the experience.

I was told to pray for him and to keep faith, although the significance of this would not impact me until I witnessed the toll that it had taken on my family. Seeing my uncle for the first time after being informed of the bad news gave me the perception that nothing was wrong. He acted the same. He looked the same. Something was different though, instead of discussing who would host Thanksgiving dinner this year every conversation was about how we would get through this and about how we had to support him. At this moment I realized that this experience would be a life changing event.

After the effects of therapy began to appear we were forced to face the facts. He may not make it. My family came together as a whole to support him in anyway possible in doing so we all replayed the same reoccurring thought in the back of our minds, this could be the last time I see him alive. The doctors worked efficiently to impede the spread of the cancer, by this time he had become noticeably worse and we all knew that we had to treasure the moments that he had left.

After the death of my uncle we must convince ourselves that it was his time and that we did everything we could. The funeral contained emotions of sorrow as well as joy in that we knew that he is in a better place and that his suffering has ceased. We use ourselves as an outlet for pain as well as to share treasured moments. I believe in hope and faith, above all I believe in family.