We need a Cure...

Tonight I got word of a fallen friend. He will surly rise from the ashes as the Phoenix and carry his two young sons with him into a stronger, more beautiful future. But today..., today he is broken. Let me tell you a story of a man. He is a retired Marine, a straight forward, by the book, tell you like it is Marine... retired in paper alone. He is a good man, an excellent father, and an outstanding husband. The Marine's are known world round for strength, and character, and moral justice. But I challenge that propaganda view of this man fore it only limits his inner greatness and valor. I think the truest test of the character and strength of a man is tested not one fought on a battle field, but in sterile, white, cold, dark, hospital rooms. Where a man versed in the battle of war, is helpless. Where weapons are useless, and love is the only true marker of relationships and the value of human life. Where a touch of a hand once taken for granted is absorbed into memory, where the gentle sound of a heart beat is transformed into musical melody. Where looks without words carry the most passionate weight. This is where true character is tested, and man's nature is pushed beyond limits. Where a Marine's strength is dwarfed by the strength of which is nested deep inside of him. The hardest battle, the steepest climb. This is where love abounds, life makes no sense, and relationships carry the most weight. This friend sat and watched his wife, and love of his life, battle breast cancer for 10 years. A Marine who can not bring a kabar, or a gun to a cancer fight. A Marine who could only sit back and watch. Helpless... and alone... His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer that had already spread to her lympth nodes upon birth of their last child... 10 years ago. She was a nutritionist and took excellent care of herself and her family. How he would sneak coffee at work, since she knew she did not approve of it. :) Oh how he loved her, oh how he loves her still. How the children have never known their mother not to be ill, and how this must be a shock to them. She could not die, would not die, not her. She had gotten close before, but she always pulled through...but this was different. She lost her fight, and the Lord took her home. He sits alone in the darkness of the night alone. He misses her, and he is weak. A weak that he can not, and will not show to anyone else. He must be strong, strong for the kids, for the family, for his co-workers, and friends. But alone at night when it is just him and his Lord... he weeps. We need a cure... My heart shatters into a million shards for this man, and yet I am helpless to offer condolences or sympathies. My heart bleeds for a man who alone feels that he should be better prepared for the title wave of emotions that now drown him because he knew this day would come...but isn't. I wish I could wrap my arms around him and take away his pain, and give him some of my own strength to help him make it through. How do you gift friendship, respect, and strength... when hope is lost? My best friend in all the world battled breast cancer twice and won the battle. The most beautiful, elegant, and strong woman that I know. I watched her then with the same unknowing of what to do or what to say as I watch my friend now. It deeply saddens me. Tanya is a survivor, and my friend's wife is not. We need a cure... My sister lost her husband a little over a year ago to colon cancer, he was only 36 years old. She too is left behind with two children. I watch and listen to her hurt and anguish, and cry for her. She too lost the love of her life... a Marine. A straight forward, by the book, tell you how it is Marine. Brad was her life, and he still is today. I watch her struggle with single parenting, and grieving. The waves still crashing upon her, wave after wave, fewer and farther apart, but still they're coming from out of the blue... a memory, a touch, a feeling, a smell. We need a cure... I do not know which road is the easy one? To be the one who has the cancer and has to fight, and go through chemo, and radiation, and medications after medications? To be the loved one who has to sit by and watch the decline of your lover, best friend, and hero die, and still be strong enough to carry on for everyone else around you when your whole world is caving in. Or to be the helpless co-worker, friend, or family member who sits in a corner from a far and weeps for your pain, and loss. We need a cure... I could not sleep tonight, I needed to write so that I could silence my mind, and calm my own spirit. I leave you with one last piece of this puzzle for me. I went to the temple on Saturday with a list of people to put on the prayer roll. Lists that others had asked me to write on their behalf. As I sat there, I said a prayer, "Dearest Lord, please bring to my mind, the names of those that need these prayers most." I instantly thought of a few people... some of which were my friend, his wife, and his sons. I thought this odd since they are not LDS, but did not bat an eye. I jotted their names on the paper and slipped it in the box while praying my own simple little prayer for angels to hold each of them within their protective wings.... A prayer is a prayer, and a blessing is a blessing...no matter which faith it comes from. I thank Heavenly Father now, for guiding me in the only real way that I can help this family... with my sincere and heartfelt prayers. My heart breaks, and tonight as I say my prayers, I thank him for all his tender mercies, and ask him for a cure, if it be his will. We need a cure...

May God Bless Us All.