Unlike a lot of my entries, this one won’t be happy, but instead a lot more serious. The results of the biopsy performed on a mass found inside my mother’s breast came back today and it was malignant. Am I upset? Sure. I’d be lying to all of you who read this if I tried to claim to you that everything is happy and awesome, but frankly, this summer has been very rough on me. I love my family, I love being home (kinda), but this has been a very different kind of summer. My plans had originally had me staying in Charleston for the summer. I applied to be an orientation intern at CofC, but due to budget cuts, not many people were hired, including myself. I ended up back in Atlanta working at camp again which certainly didn’t seem to be a bad thing. I love camp and all the campers, but I never expected the summer I have gotten. Since returning home at the end of May, my dad has been laid off, my sister’s first session of camp was cancelled do to the flu, my dad had to have his defibrillator replaced because the battery inside the old one died, and now my mom will be treated for breast cancer. I’m a tough guy, but this is a little much for me.
The point of this entry is not for you to pity me, because frankly that wouldn’t fix anything, but rather for all of you realize that we all make the best of situations, no matter how terrible they make look. I wake up every morning and go to work, happy to see a smile, a giggle, and some excitement. Life is worth living, because we make the most of every single hand we are dealt, with no regrets and for me at least, the most effort possible. When things look as though they can’t get worse, remember that they could be worse. I am lucky, because I have a family that loves me, I have food to eat, I am gaining a college education, I have friends who care about me, and I am pretty healthy.
Thank you readers, your support by just reading this makes me feel a little bit better. Remember that just a smile can change the course of someone’s day.
Ross