Friends of MMT in Need of Thoughts & Prayers

So I got a call today from one of my best friends from high school who's been diagnosed with cancer. Gratefully, a kind that is easily treatable so I'm not freaking out as much as I normally would be at that kind of news, but it added to my growing list of people who are friends, members, and/or friends of members who have been experiencing those extra difficulties in life recently. Whether a beloved pet who is reaching the end of their life or lost unexpectedly recently, dealing with acute or chronic illnesses themselves or in loved ones, been struggling with finances or their job, or had relationships break down...it's made me more conscientious of the power we all have to support one another and help each other through tough times.

If you are one who is in need of some extra love, hugs, support, or just plain good vibes, and you know who you are...this is for you. If you want to post here and ask for 'Ts & Ps', please feel free but NOT obligated in any way.

The power of the universe is a mysterious thing. I firmly believe in karma and that there are forces we don't understand that influence our lives, and most especially, in the power of the brain when you have a positive, determined-to-kick-butt-no-matter-what, forward-looking attitude. For all of you who have been struggling, I wish you peace, love, light, and healing.



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Thanks HC, that means a lot! My best friend not only made it through surgery with flying colors, but she even flew to Denver for a conference the week of her surgery and took an extra day off to spend some time visiting before going home. Flew home and had the operation the next morning, and is doing well. We'll see what the future holds.

For my other friends, I still think of you every day and ask the Fates for good days for you and your loved ones. You are appreciated and loved, and I am grateful for you all in my life!

A story of positivity and hope for a better future. She's a shining example of dealing with the worst possible adversity in a way that few manage. I've been following this story since it started developing thanks to friends who went to Mt. Saint Jo who shared this.

Lauren Hill: Basketball hero weakening, wants to spend last days with family, unlikely for game
19-year-old has raised $324K for cancer research
JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer , ALLY KRAEMER, WCPO
Posted Nov 18, 2014
Updated Dec 7, 2014

CINCINNATI — Lauren Hill practices only a few days a week now. It's unlikely she'll play in another basketball game, although she's not ruling out the possibility that she just might feel up to it and shoot one of her left-handed layups.

The Mount St. Joseph freshman isn't as strong as she was Nov. 2, when she took the court and won the nation's hearts.

Now her cancerous brain tumor makes every day unpredictable.

Whatever happens, she has accepted it.

How to help Lauren's cause

> Donate to The Lauren Hill Tribute Fund at The Cure Starts Now Foundation . It was created by Keith and Brooke Desserich, a local couple who lost their 7-year-old daughter to raise needed research money to find a cure for DIPG.

> Sign up for Lauren's Layup4Lauren challenge or make a donation at Layup4Lauren.org .

> Tweet or read more messages about her at #Layup4Lauren, #LayupForLauren, and #1More4Lauren. twitter.com/layup4lauren

> Get updates on Lauren on Facebook at Lauren's Fight For Cure

Learned today that two of my high school classmates, ones I'd known since kindergarten, died suddenly in the past few days. 41 years young both of them, with young families.

Life is precious. Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment letting those you know how you feel, and how grateful you are that they've touched your heart and soul.

This hit my inbox the day before yesterday. I might almost consider it as the universe trying to tell me something, but I won't go quite that far. Regardless, it was, sadly, timely and has made me pause to reflect some. Mayhap it will for you too.

Being an agnostic, I don't really believe in heaven or hell, but I do feel that there is, as Jane puts it, a morphing into a different energy. It's not that part that gives me pause, it's the missing those who've moved on and leave a hole in our hearts, and that we too will cause that same pain in others that makes me sad.

If you are one who believes in prayer, please send one tonight for a friend who's gone to the hospital. They are running tests tomorrow, hoping it's nothing serious and we can laugh about this adventure next weekend.

TY.

From reddit user GSnow :

Alright, here goes. I'm old. What that means is that I've survived (so far) and a lot of people I've known and loved did not. I've lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can't imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here's my two cents.

I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter". I don't want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can't see.

As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive.

In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don't even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you'll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what's going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

Somewhere down the line, and it's different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O'Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you'll come out.

Take it from an old guy. The waves never stop coming, and somehow you don't really want them to. But you learn that you'll survive them. And other waves will come. And you'll survive them too. If you're lucky, you'll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.