Upon arriving at home tonight after work, Sam had a lot to tell me, mostly about his support group since that is where he spent a couple hours today. This support group meets at Providence Cancer Center and is composed of people who are all stage IV cancer patients. It is so interesting the different outlooks each individual has toward his or her illness and the related diagnosis. They range from complete denial to "OMG, I am going to die tomorrow!" The common denominator is the fear factor with each of them and that is what had Sam perplexed when I got home. Sam does his best to encourage each participant to not be afraid, to face his or her fears and to act on them. He sets a wonderful example for each of them and for all us in working each day to make the best of an extremely difficult situation. Tonight, though, he was asking questions of me such as, "What really am I here for?" I have learned not to become upset at these questions, just to listen because I know that the only reason he is headed down this path (and usually it is only for a few minutes or so) is because of some discussion at the support group. During our conversation, Sam mentioned that he was now the only person left from when this group started two years ago. AHA! My light bulb moment. He normally tells me when someone is no longer with the group, but he has not said anything about anyone no longer being there since the first of the year. Now I understand why he has been dragging his feet about attending the support group the past couple weeks. I do not blame him one bit; however, this is a fear he needed to face and today he faced it head on. Sam is needed at that support group because he is a mentor to anyone who comes through the door because of his courage and because he represents hope. Hope for the future to reach that amazing view is why Sam is here and somehow I will find a way to relay that message to him.
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| The mighty Yukon River at Eagle, Alaska. |
We are starting to make plans for camping, hiking, fishing and whatever we can do in the 2-3 hours where Sam has energy this summer. More than likely he will be doing a lot of sitting and watching me while I do the fishing but you can bet he will be freely offering unsolicited advice. Oh boy. Since he is the fish whisperer, though, there is plenty I can learn from him on that subject. But when it comes to setting up the camp...I will have to find something else for him to give 100% of his attention to while I do that. Maybe that will be the time to encourage a nap!
Life is great right now and for that I am quite thankful. Work is extremely busy and is gearing up to get even busier. Even better is the fact that my job requires me to spend time outdoors. What could be better than that during summer in Alaska?
Ciao!
