Last week was pretty much the worst.
I had high hopes for the end of October, honestly. My wife's birthday turned into a week-long extravaganza of events including the quite-excellent magic show on the third floor of the Hotel Congress and Prince-tribute-act Purple Reign at Desert Diamond Casino. Training for my small section of the El Tour de Tucson has almost became enjoyable. I really didn't have much to complain about.
On Tuesday the 22nd, however, my closest friend, Jordan (I co-wrote a book with him and we generally communicate in some form every day, even though he lives in Portland these days) announced via Facebook that his wife's cancer had returned. Not all that long after, another Facebook post let out the news that the cancer had spread throughout her body and that her life expectancy might be measured in days.
Thankfully, over the last week the news has improved somewhat, with doctors saying that she might be around for years still with the help of radiation and chemo. It's still terrible news, but I suppose in these situations you take what you can get.
Mindy's a great person, a great mom, a great wife, a great doctor. She makes (and will probably drink most of) a mean pitcher of sangria. She (like my wife) has a good sense for which wild ideas that come out of her husband's mouth are worth pursuing and which ones should be dismissed and forgotten as quickly as possible. It's so trite and stupid to say something like "cancer sucks," like some slogan changes anything about the seemingly random nature of life and death, but I don't understand it and I don't like it. Yeah, I guess it's inevitable, but I want Mindy to be around for a long time, for Jordan and for their super-cute daughter.
Hug the people that you care about. Remember that nothing lasts forever. Also, if you don't mind, think a positive thought or two for Mindy.
