Emerging Courageous Online Magazine - Stories
Mary Richards, Otero County
Southwest Division, Survivor Speech
I often wonder what I can actually tell you about cancer that you do
not all ready know?
I could talk about:
Prevention,
Advocacy,
Provide all the latest data on cause and effects.
But, then I realized nothing said really has impact on someone, unless
they are thrust in wearing and walking in my shoes.
I wrote the following, which I’m sharing with you, a few days after
I was diagnosed with “Terminal…Cancer. It began on
a warm day in 1999,
I had not planned on taking a
trip that time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather quickly. This
trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in
advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my
unplanned "Guilt Trip. "
I bought tickets to fly there on Wish
I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage,
which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been.
No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international
because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.
As I checked into the Last
Resort Hotel, I noticed that they were hosting the year's most important
event, the Annual Pity Party.
I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading
citizens would be there.
First, there would be the Done
family, you know, Should Have,
Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know Ol' Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost they would be there too. But the largest family would be the Yesterday's. There are far too
many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.
`
Then Shattered Dreams
would surely make an appearance. And It's
Their Fault would entertain us with stories about how things had
faded in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don't Blame Me and I Couldn't Help It.
Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing
there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very
depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back
from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent
"pity parties" could be canceled by ME!
I started to truly realize that I
did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed. One thing kept going
through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE
YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY.
I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging.
Knowing this, I left the City of Regret
immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I've
made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.
So, if you're planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel
all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now
taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myself and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don't have
to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders
upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town.
If you can find it -- it's in your own heart -- please look me up. I now
live at I Can Do It street.
that continues to provide me
hope for my own cure.
It is the unselfish work each
and every volunteer does every day, that creates the bond of faith I have with
the medical world and the private research firms.
Through all we do, a Cure will
be Found, and Cancer will become a word which no longer threatens to kill over
1 hundred thousand people a year in the United States.
This is the time to take up
the Sword of Faith, and go to war against the Cancer Battle. For each person who volunteers their time
and energy to this cause, there are two
or more people that lie waiting for a cure.
Your work is so needed, but so
much more appreciated.
I thank you for working
directly for my cure.
Mary Richards – [email protected]