My loving great-aunt Sarah

Hi everyone. So...I am the big 1! My mom says I can for sure start writing more for her. I mean my grammar and ability to put together such forward thinking post says it all.

 

This post is going to be a bit different from the rest. 

As many of you know I am officially in remission. 

=A decrease in or disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer. In partial remission, some, but not all, signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. In *complete remission, (this is me!)

all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, although cancer still may be in the body.

Can you believe that? I mean a year ago I made an entrance into the world, with a bang! So much so that my mother is just really catching her breath and enjoying all of my mischief 🤗

I am actually writing this in honor of my great-Aunt Sarah. Or as my pere-pere likes to call her ‘little sister’. As my father is from a family of ten children, he being the youngest #10, baby boy, well my great-Aunt Sarah was right before him. They are pretty darn close if I would have to say myself. 

Aunt Sarah (center);Left to right: Aunt Clarice, Pete (my dad), Aunt Celemine, Uncle Jake

✳️I’m actually getting this information from some eaves dropped conversations, I just happened to hear.

Well back in 2013 she was diagnosed with lung cancer. 

Now my great Uncle Martin, who was a twin, had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. Though he fought hard that wicked old cancer just didn’t want to leave, and he passed the following year in 2009. 

My mom says that after finding out about Aunt Sarah, she didn’t think she was going to have that long to live either. Especially after everything my great-Uncle experiences. 

Well let me tell you something that amazing woman is a fighter! Not only that from what I hear she loves Jesus too! I mean when your living in this world and have to suffer due to illness there is no one better to cling on too, but Jesus. 

There has been times where after her rounds of chemo and radiation, she was granted the blessing of having clean scans and doing fairly well. Though there were hiccups now and again she continued to press on, with a smile. My great-Aunt Clarice, always made sure to send detailed e-mails so the family knew what was going on. Well now we get text messages!

I’m not sure if you all recall that during one of my rounds I had to receive a chemotherapy drug that was toxic to my heart, well prior to receiving I took a medicine to create sorta like a protective medicine to help decrease that. Well let’s just say that my great-Aunt Sarah has recieved quite a few medications and her heart has paid a heavy price. Currently she is back in hospital, initially for a biopsy that led to an irregular fast heart rate. 

This is a woman who has been married for years, had 5 children: 

✅a marriage for over 50 years

✅4 beautiful girls  

   *one who went through breast cancer

✅a son who was tragically killed

✅plenty of grandchildren and great-grandchildren

✅a husband who was sick and needed medical attention

If anything she is a warrior! Right now she is a bit weaker, but still with the heart of  warrior. Though she has fought against this cancer that has wreaked havoc to her body, I believe I know where her hope is, Jesus. You know why and how I know this. It was heard by my mere-mere that when she had heard about my diagnosis, and especially all the suffering I went through during my 2nd round...

‘I pray that the cancer from Emerson would leave his body and enter mine.’

Now don’t tell anyone but my mom 😭 when she heard that. I mean for a human being to desire to remove suffering in order to suffer even more? Now I don’t know anyone in my lifetime to have done that, let alone shared the sentiment. The reality is there has been only 1: all man and all God! Completely holy and righteous, like an unblemished lamb. That was Jesus.  My great-Aunt prayed those words. Now my mother’s faith is in the Lord, and I know he desires not for us as his children to suffer. I can only pray that this very small note could be a gesture of thanks. To a woman I’ve never even met, yet she would be willing to suffer so that I didn’t have to. 

Jesús, I know my great-Aunt Sarah is in hospital and not doing well. But I know that you love her, and her family loves her. I do not wish for her to suffer, for even for another minute. Though my hearts desire is for her to be healed and her body restored, I know that your plans for her have been set forth. So I plead for no more suffering, may your will be done to her life. If I can too be so selfless may I choose to sacrifice as she did, as she desired to lead by example of Jesus. In your name I pray, Amen