More Bad News

I have just returned home last night from my brothers burial. We gathered, brothers and sisters afterward to comfort each other and say goodbye once again. We spoke of the shortness of life, the gift of family, the good and the bad, the need to keep in touch and not take life for granted. We have so often put off getting together, we thought we had an endless supply of time. We say we will be better, we will make the time. I know we mean it now, but as time goes by it is so easy to take these precious moments for granted.

When I came home to check my mail and blog I read this. As you know Renee (Circling my head), my blog friend and her family, have been walking through hell. Renee has IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer) and her sister has a tumor (cancer) in her brain that has cost her the use of the left side of her body. They did not remove all of it and is undergoing treatment. Jacquie's son, Sheldon, has been in the hospital these last months with cancer too. It is a rare form, and he has had surgeries and was going to start Chemo.

Today though, things have changed. Today I read that Sheldon only has a brief two months left. Today my heart is heavy, and the loss of my brother seems pale in comparison to the pain this family has endured, and continues to endure. I have prayed, hoped, asked for mercy, yet today it is hard. I do not see the light at the end of this tunnel. I cannot fathom all this pain and suffering. So much for one family to bear.

I weep for Renee, Jacquie, my brother, and of course for Sheldon. I read of his strength and bravery and I am in awe that someone so young, a warrior as Renee calls him, can find a way to be brave and strong facing this journey. His courage gives me hope.

In her post linked here ( Three times Three no 8) Renee talks of a dream Sheldon had where he sits with his Grandfather on a bench. In it he knows his Grandfather has passed away, and is told by his Grandfather he has passed too. Perhaps he came to Sheldon to assure him that he is waiting to greet him, that it will be okay? In a way it seems to have given Sheldon a light at the end of his tunnel. His Grandfather is waiting, he will greet him and there he will find peace, free from pain. I do not know, but it has given Sheldon some peace.

I can only feel the pain here, loss compounded by two. Oh Renee I pray for strength, for you, for Jacquie, for me, as for Sheldon? He is my hero, may I be just a fraction as brave.

God Bless Your family.

For those who read this post, please stop by and join me in praying for, and with this family.