Back on the Road Again.

Written by Karen.
I won’t lie to you.  The past six months have been tough.  Life has thrown one of its curveballs and we weren’t able to duck.  It was a direct hit.  We’ve been pretty lucky, I guess.  I haven’t had too many fast balls make direct contact right between the eyes.  But this one did, and the shock waves still reverberate.  

Diagnoses of serious illnesses will do that to you. They are unexpected and unbelievable. They permanently rearrange personal landscapes of how things were and how they are now. They toss you upside down and incongruously spit you out on the other side not particularly caring how you splatter on the sidewalk.  They change your outlook and your perspectives, while in other ways they bring a greater sense of clarity and gratitude in how you order your priorities and live your life.  

I knew from the very moment I first heard the whispers that something might be wrong that something was wrong.  I knew without knowing that my sister’s diagnosis would be unexpected and serious.  Very serious.  

And so Adam and I began to make our way back to Atlanta, Georgia from Hong Kong even before we fully knew - or understood - what the diagnosis was.  We traveled back to where our family could hold each other tightly and weave together our strengths into a sole unity of purpose: to help support my sister.

It has been six months now since the diagnosis of brain cancer, and my sister’s journey is not over - hopefully, not by a long shot.  She is a fighter and a stubborn one at that.  She is determined to beat this unwelcome cancer and live a long and productive life.  One day at a time.  

As one of her doctor’s would say to her on a fairly regular basis, “You don’t know exactly how much time you have.  Nobody does.  Go out and do what you want to do now - today - while you can.  We all need to live like that, with a little more urgency.”

Words to live by.  

It’s time for Adam and I to get back on the road again.  Our travel goals and dreams haven’t become dulled by the experiences over the past six months.  In fact, they’ve become more honed as a result.  I have a greater sense of clarity about my priorities; a clearer sense of what I’ve done and what I still would like to do.  A separation of sorts of the wheat from the chaff.

And for right now, above all else I have a keen sense of gratitude that we have this gift of time to help, share, explore and savor.  One day at a time.  Urgently.

'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'  

Excerpt from First Corinthians 13