Contemplating Cancer and Other “C” Words

Cancer. I’m thinking about it today. The word alone spews fear. For the past. For the present. For the future. For the unknown. We hear that another friend or loved one has become a battleground. And we wonder if we’re the next target. We eat the right stuff and refuse the wrong stuff. We exercise and deal with stress. We sleep the recommended hours and avoid known risk factors. We examine ourselves monthly. We make all the right choices. Or the wrong ones. And it might not matter. Some believe that we all carry a cancer gene. That something triggers it. And we may have no control. We’re all susceptible. All of us. My mother-in-law had breast cancer. She died many years ago from other causes. My aunt had bowel cancer. It killed her. My mother had...