Turning 40 seems to be yet another big milestone and as a kid I remember thinking, "Wow 40 is so old," now I think "40 is so young!" Interesting how perspective's change huh. Jarrett and I were talking a few months ago about his upcoming birthday and he made the comment that he feels like his youth is like the sand in an hour glass drifting so quickly away. As he spoke I had a moment of flashback to 2007 when he and I were sitting in an oncologists office listening to every word the Doctor spoke as he explained the diagnosis no one wants to hear. The "C" word.. we don't even like to utter the word in our home. And there we were at another cross in the road that made us stop in our tracks.
Thankfully, we were blessed then too. He did respond well to treatment, his PET scans became clear and just a couple years ago we celebrated the other "C" word, this one we shout from the rafters.... Cured.
Not a day goes by that I don't give thanks for Jarrett being my partner in this journey, and on every year we celebrate his birthday I am reminded how grateful I am he is here with me in this crazy, wonderful life. For our birthdays each year are not a guarantee, but a reminder that we should live each day to it's fullest.
Sadly that reminder has become even more and more emphasized for us this year as watched some very dear friends come to a similar fork in the road as they heard the "c" word uttered in their doctors' offices too.
Some friends are just beginning their fight, others are in the middle of the marathon getting beat up by the treatments and the toll the battles bring. Some are celebrating their final day of chemo (yesterday- Yay Trudi) and others are celebrating their beautiful new baby hair growing back richly and full (it's so pretty Sonya). There are some friends having to face a recurrence or a new type of diagnosis, no one wants to hear.
Yes we have several friends in various parts of their journey's all fighting for their lives.... fighting for more birthdays.
So on this eve of Noah's Kindness Project and on what we celebrate today... Jarrett's 40th birthday (a birthday we prayed for him to reach some 12 plus years ago) we wanted to do something to show our support, to try to help those fighting for more days, weeks, months, yes many more years. We wanted to try to give hope to those fighting for more birthdays. So that is why one of our other acts of kindness this year is to donate to the American Cancer Society in honor of all those fighting for more birthdays.
We hope and pray that with our gift, it can go to help find effective medicine to treat the "c" word or even better find a way to CURE it for all. We share this gift in honor of all of our friends, our family who've ever had to bear that cross... we know it hasn't been easy, it is not for the faint of heart. But we see you giving it everything you've got, digging deep to find strength, and hope for better tomorrows. We pray for your health, we send you our love daily and we look forward to celebrating your many more future birthdays.
Happy birthday Jarrett. We love you and look forward to celebrating Noah's Kindness Project and your birthday.
To our friends fighting for your health we pray you hear "cured" in your diagnosis very soon. Our prayers and love to you today and many more tomorrows.
#noahskindnessproject
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