We hold your heart.

Many of us awoke to news of a close friend experiencing the unspeakable. Today she lay in a hospice struggling as her wonderful husband and family keep vigil. Typical of my morning routine, before mustering the kids, I'll grab the ipad to catch a glimpse of what the day will bring. I opened my email to see a Caring bridge notification. If you have lived in this town a while, the cancer social networking site has become our everyday reality.  The sinking feeling was already there. Having conversed with her husband earlier in the weekend, I sensed the hard truth of where his heart-felt writing was heading. If we're anything alike, you may be feeling as hopeless as I do.  So with tears in my eyes, I went to rustle Peter out of bed, telling him it's time to start his day. I felt angry that she was robbed of this simple task of waking her own child. I'll shamefully admit, it wasn't only she what I was thinking about. Our own daily dance with our mortality plays this "what if" game in our heads. What if this was me? When the guilt of thinking that thought set in, I sluggishly moved forward ashamed of my thoughts.

Some of us headed to work or stayed home. Maybe, you went for a walk or reached out to a friend looking for a bit of normalcy. Despite the small town charm  and cheer that our town usually affords us, the muggy overcast day seemed to act as a shroud to the brighter side of life. Little of what I write here can change some of life's destined outcomes. I wish more than anything, like the author of a book, I could craft the perfect ending to each story I come upon. Everyone deserves to live happily ever after.  But to my friend, her husband, her family and friends, this chapter is a painful one. My librarian friend, once again you are reading to us. As you spell out your chapter, the best we can do is sit back, listen and learn.  Please know that we are all in this together hinging on your words. Our stories are all unequivocally linked together through community, friendships and family.  Like a great novel, your story  is now a classic to be loved and passed onto everyone you have touched. Yours is the very finest of love stories.

So we all pray for you, as those you love hold your hand, we hold your heart.