It was at an infusion center. One woman struggling with Multiple Sclerosis met another battling her second round of cancer. The conversation the two women had would change their lives for the better.
I sat in the parking lot, thinking of the last time I was in this infusion center. I smiled thinking of the woman I met that was undergoing chemotherapy. She was fighting her second battle. Her hair was gone; she wore her bald proudly, beautifully. Her personality was spunky, and we talked and laughed so much it made an hour seem like ten minutes.
They say first impressions are the greatest; well ours changed my entire life. As she walked past me pulling her IV cart she paused, her smile faded and she said, “oh no, no no, you are far too young and far too pretty to be in here, and they put you in the back huh?” I just laughed and said, oh yeah well I’m a repeat offender, so they keep us trouble makers back here I guess. She asked what I was fighting, and I let her know it was Multiple Sclerosis. She told me how she was going to beat her cancer, and then go travel the world and I told her that was exactly what we were going to claim. She then took my hand, leaned in close, and looked me in the eye. It was in that moment that I knew she was about to share something with me about this fight that only someone who knew these battles could.
She said, “It may seem a lot different, but it’s not. We are both fighting for our lives; me, to keep mine, but only for a set amount of time, and you, for the quality and duration of yours, but for the entirety of it. Do not lose your smile. Do not lose your faith. Do not stop laughing, no matter what. Just love more, love harder, laugh louder, and grow wiser. Spend all your time with the people you love or doing things that you love. And when you can travel, see it all.”