Ours began when my 36 year old husband and I heard the words, “He has terminal cancer.” The five years we walked the cancer road were tough, especially since I was 9 months pregnant during the time he was being diagnosed. We wanted a normal life for a family that was just beginning to expand. We kept everything status quo. Nothing changed. But everything changed. 

Cancer leaves its mark and it becomes a filter that colors every decision, every move, every future plan. And when the prognosis is months of life together, the unknown future becomes daunting and terrifying, all at the same time.

But cancer is only one facet of a grief journey. During the time of my late husband’s illness, my mother’s terminal illness ended her life as well. My father, whom she was married to almost 50 years, only last a few years without her and my late husband. Thus ending the lives of the three most important people in my life in the span of a few years.

Unfortunately, short of everything except natural disaster, I myself or my immediate family have been through most of the trials and traumas life can throw at a person. But God has been my Rock and Redeemer, my stable force, the place I call home, when the people and things of this world can’t.