Member-only story
First up, I don’t have cancer. My best friend is dying of cancer. My favorite uncle died of cancer. I don’t have to have cancer to know it sucks ass. or to be able to relate to it as an illness, or to empathize with folks who have it. I am watching my friend die- on the weekends. I do have to work. His wife is getting the thick of it, and very little help from family.
So, God Bless all those folks that sent them the MealTrain. That really helped them adjust to new life- bedridden spouse, due to paralysis on the right side of the body. We need a new kind of Train- functioning spouse day off- if someone of reasonable mind could sit with a dying man while his wife takes a deserved break, that would be great.
You may say, where is the man’s family. He has family. If this were me, I would have already been pawned off as a ward of the state. This is hard to say, because his family is really super nice people, but god help them- they’re not very bright. They tried giving him break, friend fell, and instead of calling 911 for a lift assist, they went door to door looking for a neighbor… Still, one of his parents remarked, “It feels like John is being punished.”
Where the hell does that come from? I mean, sure, I have wondered sometimes why life is so tough and why I got the raw end of a deal at times- many even being my own fault. I have even wondered if I were really that bad of a person. As a counselor, I encounter that thinking a lot. Some people will flat declare their goodness, as if that alone is a ‘get out of jail’ free card…
