Sunday, June 24, 2018

Illness Brings Friends Closer


We come to the time when my illness shook my world.  If I was shocked by the sudden diagnosis of a terminal illness the response of my friends and colleagues was nearly as huge.  As many said to me “I never would have dreamed this could happen to you” or “you were the last person I would ever have thought this could happen to” and so on.  There is a Danish saying that Mom uses often “it’s never so bad that it isn’t good for something” and so it has been with this illness.

Friends and colleagues who may have slowly drifted away after my retirement have come back to me with moral support, empathy, wisdom and friendship.  One such person is Gale who has had her own fight with cancer.  Gale’s experience caused her to become very involved in cancer programs but it also led her to be an empathetic colleague to those who eventually went through the illness (and in a company numbering over 500 at its peak the odds were that some would be diagnosed).  Gale was there for Vreni from beginning to end and beyond.  She has been there for me from the moment she learned about my diagnosis.  I burst into tears at the hospital when she told me she was doing the cancer walk in my name last summer. 

Cancer is a frightening word and possibly the most powerful word in any language.  But this word is also one that brings out the best in people.  I have experienced firsthand how people’s Empathy-Meter swings to 10 the moment they learn one is diagnosed.  But for some who are diagnosed they take their empathy to the next level.  They Pay It Forward – and Gale is one of those people who pays it forward, giving out empathy, wisdom and strength with a generosity of spirit that is hard to match.

I feel very lucky that she has taken me under her wing.

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