I believe that certain people are brought into our lives for a reason. Some people are for lifetime friendships.... others for short-term friendships that serve a need at a certain time....some are just acquaintances that serve other needs.... and some are serendipitous meetings that make you go "wow". These "wow" meetings are the ones that I find very interesting - either there is something for you to learn or receive or something for you to teach or give and sometimes both.
I had one of those "wow" meetings recently. There is a woman at the cancer clinic who has the same schedule as me. We have our preliminary bloodwork and meetings with the doctor on the same day at the same time. We then have our chemo the next day on the same schedule (although she's just every 3 weeks). 3 weeks ago we ended up in the library together between bloodwork and doctor's appointments (there's usually about 1.5 hours in between). We started chatting last week and seemed to hit it off quite well. Then we met again the next day getting our chemo and we chatted some more. This is where it gets interesting...
"M" turns out to be from Dutch background and attends the same denominational church as me, although in a different city. For some reason, I felt compelled to show her pictures of my children (I don't usually show strangers pictures of my kids until I know them a bit better). When she saw that Ryan has Down syndrome, she shared with me that she works with Friendship Ministries in our church. Friendship Ministries is a program designed to include people with developmental disabilities in the church.
I met M again today while at the Clinic. Although I guess it's not surprising, it is interesting how having cancer strips away all the superficialty of conversations. Somehow talking about the weather and the latest tabloid romance (not that I really talk about that, but you get the drift) is less important. We were able to have an amazing talk today about some serious issues. M has found out in the past 2 weeks that her prognosis is not good. We talked about facing death, anger at the situation, worry about our kids, our faith in God - BIG topics. I learned a lot from her and I hope we can continue to share throughout our journeys.
Please remember M in your prayers as well. Although her children are older, they are not yet adults and it is a very tough situation for all.
And as an aside, my bloodcounts were borderline today, but they should go up again tomorrow so I'm OK for chemo.
4 comments:
Annette,
What an amazing meeting! Family, friends and health care team members can be there to support and guide you through this profound experience but not all can provide you with the ability to truly understand what you are going through. I am not saying that anyone can replace the love, support and prayers of your family and friends as they are essential to your over all health but I think that you hit the nail on the head when you used the word serendipitous for your meeting with 'M', and how wonderful that you can provide support to each other.
Thinking of you often.
Denise
No doubt you gave as much as you received. I'm glad you could be a mutual blessing to eachother. I will pray for her too. Hope your counts are great for tomorrow.
Love you, Lisa
That is wonderful Annette. We will definitely keep your newest friend and kindred spirit in our thoughts and prayers. Praying this round of chemo goes well for you - you are also in our thoughts and prayers daily!!
thinking of you, and love that you found a kindred spirit in your journey. My prayers will go out for M too....but can I be selfish and add more for you? hugs,
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