A Little Help From My Friends
One of my goals this year is to once every two weeks touch base with one of my friends and check in. There are many with whom I talk on a weekly basis, but I have others in Baltimore (my hometown) and throughout the country whom I miss. It is tough when you live far from one another that you get so wrapped up in the here and now. Case in point, my friend Kristin.
She was a friend from college and we'd kept in touch for the past 10 years. Talking, e-mailing, sending letters at least once a year. We played phone tag at the end of last year. I kept getting caught up in life stuff and would forget to call back until weeks later and so on and so forth. Well, we finally got in touch last week, and she told me that she had cancer last year. I couldn't believe it. She was always so healthy. She even joked with me about how easy her pregnancies and deliveries were. (I asked if she'd carry my kids, whenever that happens, but I think her price is a little steep.) The cancer started in her tailbone and moved to her hip. By the time the doctors stopped giving her the runaround and claiming she was being neurotic because it was just arthritis or a slipped disk causing her pain, the cancer had spread to her right hip. She was fortunate that she only had to get part of it replaced. When they finally did x-rays (because they misdiagnosed her problem, they didn't believe she needed x-rays), they found spots on her lungs and on lymph nodes behind her intestines. She was out of work for months, endured chemo and physical therapy, and needed to walk with a cane. She's recovering now and her type of cancer responded well to chemo, so it's in remission.
Moral of the story: Make time for those you care about.
Yes, it's important for me to succeed in writing and my career. And I know time is an expensive commodity. But good friends and relationships are irreplaceable. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for those who supported me and helped me believe in myself.
She was a friend from college and we'd kept in touch for the past 10 years. Talking, e-mailing, sending letters at least once a year. We played phone tag at the end of last year. I kept getting caught up in life stuff and would forget to call back until weeks later and so on and so forth. Well, we finally got in touch last week, and she told me that she had cancer last year. I couldn't believe it. She was always so healthy. She even joked with me about how easy her pregnancies and deliveries were. (I asked if she'd carry my kids, whenever that happens, but I think her price is a little steep.) The cancer started in her tailbone and moved to her hip. By the time the doctors stopped giving her the runaround and claiming she was being neurotic because it was just arthritis or a slipped disk causing her pain, the cancer had spread to her right hip. She was fortunate that she only had to get part of it replaced. When they finally did x-rays (because they misdiagnosed her problem, they didn't believe she needed x-rays), they found spots on her lungs and on lymph nodes behind her intestines. She was out of work for months, endured chemo and physical therapy, and needed to walk with a cane. She's recovering now and her type of cancer responded well to chemo, so it's in remission.
Moral of the story: Make time for those you care about.
Yes, it's important for me to succeed in writing and my career. And I know time is an expensive commodity. But good friends and relationships are irreplaceable. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for those who supported me and helped me believe in myself.
posted by J.T. Bock at 10:51 AM
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