Journey to Grace
Posted on October 4, 2015 by bob in Features, Health
The pronouncement of cancer is dreaded by all, and yet when it came, grace was its companion. It was a matter-of-fact progression from diagnosis to treatment — like stepping stones across an unknown stream of water. The doctors provided the roadmap to advance from one stone to the next, finally reaching the other side. And it was the journey that was full of grace.
The journey began in fear and through grace, it ended in love. Fear of dying, fear of the unknown….were soon eclipsed by the kindnesses and open hearts of old friends, new friends, and family.
Allison left a special card in my mailbox the night of “the dreaded news”….a card I looked at many times over the next year.
Susan talked a doctor “taking no new patients” into treating me.
Jean’s husband Perry called the night before my chemo began to give me a pep talk and tell me how well his own had gone.
Emily called to say that her cancer journey had been one of the best experiences in her life. Dumbfounded at first…I soon began to see what Emily meant.
Mark spent the 20th year of our marriage going to every doctor’s appointment and every chemo session with me….across the Walt Whitman Bridge and into Philadelphia. Beating cancer is a bond of love between us that will last a lifetime. We visited every Methodist Church in South Jersey trying to find one with a real pipe organ, for it is hymns played on a pipe organ that soothes my soul. And when we moved at the end of my treatment, step-daughter Chemaine told me she had called all the Methodist churches in Baton Rouge and had found the one for me. And she was right. It had a beautiful pipe organ and a good friend was singing in the choir. I was home. The grace of God was everywhere—in my family, my friends, my medical team and especially my husband.
Through grace, the journey deeply touched my heart and humbled me.
Through grace, I became a more grateful and prayerful person.
Through grace (when I get it right), I am more mindful of the needs of others, and am still a work in progress, through the grace of God.
Judy Weaver, a breast cancer survivor, is semi-retired. She is a consultant with the National Educational Telecommunications Association and lives in Mobile. She enjoys gardening, traveling with her husband Mark, writing, and staying in touch with old friends.
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