Life is not easy for any of us

Life has no smooth road for any of us;
and in the bracing atmosphere of a
high aim the very roughness stimulates
the climber to steadier steps, till the legend,
over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself.
W.C. Doane

Today is bittersweet. Mary Cay went to be with the Lord

About a month ago I met a woman named Mary Cay. I recently lost my seasonal part time job, so I was offered an opportunity to make a few dollars. I was told that Mary Kay had end stage Brain Cancer and she could not be left alone at home. She needed someone there to just help out and keep an eye on things. Be an assist to her. As I walked in that bright, sunny, warm May morning, I was told by her niece Jessica that Mary Cay was in the living room.

I walked around the corner to find a thin bald woman sitting in a overbearing recliner. It looked as though she was nearly swallowed up in this huge thing. I was greeted with a bright, beautiful smile and a hug.. "Sit down", Mary Cay said. As I looked at her, although shaved bald for the impending, upcoming radiation treatments, she illuminated something so beautiful, so bright. Her smile honestly lit up the entire room.
We began to chat as though we were old friends getting reacquainted. It was amazing. We talked and talked and talked. We laughed and shared the intimate moments of our lives as well. Mary Cay told me, that day, that she had survived breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, Liver cancer and now was faced with brain cancer (Which a week later she was told it was not brain cancer but a stroke). She had lost her beloved husband a few years ago to cancer.

My heart welled up with joy for this woman. Yes, joy.. I know, crazy right. I thought to myself, anyone who can endure the kind of affliction she was enduring and still wear joy, as a warm winter coat, is not someone to feel sorry for... She is someone to be admired, respected and emulated.  When I walked away that day, my perspective on life had changed.I knew I would never be the same. Not at any point that entire day had I heard Mary Cay grumble or complain about a single thing. She was just so gentle and tenderhearted. She made me smile and laugh and look at life as precious, something to be cherished and not taken for granted. She showed me that it is not your circumstances that make or break you. It's what's inside..

Love you Mary Cay
Enjoy dancing with Jesus today
See you one day.