During all that, I had not yet let the dogs out of their crates. Rocket howled for us the entire time. Let's just say he's no Sinatra. Howerver, once Christy was squared away, I was able to let them out. I guess that answers the question about, "Who let the dogs out?", huh? ;-)
Then, I grabbed some supper and decided to come upstairs to unwind. Many of you have commented about our staying positive and showing hope during this time. I saw today why that is so important. With Christy's surgery being so late, there weren't very many people in the waiting room. In fact, there were only two other ladies there. There were well into a conversation about both of their husbands who also happened to be having ports put in. Both of them had cancer as well. I don't know much of anything about either of them or their husbands, but I know that they weren't very positive nor did them seem to have much hope. Their discussion was pretty heated about hospitals, doctors, and everything else that seemed to have gone wrong during their journies. It was then that I realized how God has blessed us with our faith, family, and friends to help us with this difficult time. One of the ladies even talked of wanting to stop treatment because it was prolonging her husband's life then she said, "But what kind of life is it?"
I did not jump into the conversation because I figured I would wind up doing more harm than good. However, I know the answer to her question. It is a life that God created although none of us have the life God intended for us. Only in heaven, where the results of the fall are no more, will we have that life. In times like these, I'm reminded of another scene from "The Fellowship of the Ring":
Frodo: "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."
Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
In his journey, Frodo had dear Samwise with him, and he would not have made it without him. Spouses of cancer patients find themselves in the role of Samwise. They can't fight the cancer for them, but they will be there with them every step of the way to help them. There's a great scene toward the end of the movie version of "The Two Towers" that really sums it up:
Frodo: "I can't do this Sam."
Sam: "I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."
Frodo: "What are we holding on to Sam?"
Sam: "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."
Philip
Philippians 4:8
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