A daughter wrapped in her parents’ love
A husband with his wife-
A friend of many years and dreams
The precious gift of life.
These are things that we hold dear
Our paths are intertwined
And form a safety net for us –
That we have carefully designed.
The gift we never wanted came our way
It caught us by surprise
It halted our activities
To which we bid our good-byes.
In the darkest hour of the darkest night
We realized our fear
Then turned our sights toward our fights
Our vision became quite clear.
We saw…
A slalom ski, a big ice cream,
A ship that rode the waves
A confidante, a daughter’s love,
And messages to be brave.
These random things connected us
To hope in the midst of our despair
And raised us high so we could see
Beyond our disrepair.
She said…
I will walk where you will walk
and catch you when you fall
I will hold your hand in mine
should you be feeling small.
He said…
Life is far too short to miss
By working to get ahead
So let us toast together, dear
And enjoy this life instead.
A love of learning and justice served
Fro lands beyond this place
A fitness class, a volunteer,
These supports we have in place.
From Gilda’s Club to Ribbons of Hope
A spot on the Dragon Boat Team
To the doctors, nurses, and medical staff
Who heard our victory scream.
“Success is not measured in the hours worked –
or pay cheques that we earned”
The connections that we make in life
are our most valuable return.
Connections to the land itself
and connections to the seas
From east to west and north to south
our varied communities…
Cancer grew – but so did we
Our diagnosis was not ours alone
We rose and fell and rose again
And the seeds of hope were sown…
The long and painful journey now
Is part of our DNA
We walked with cancer once in hand
Now it is held at bey.
A grandparent wrapped in a child’s love
A neighbour and a friend
Connected by a dream of life
And love to take and send.
In The Corner 
Such a beautiful ode to your awful journey with cancer, Stacey. Your writing is so incredibly inspiring and something everyone going through that struggle would find hopeful and uplifting. I wish this could be published and made available to a huge audience – it’s definitely a gem!
Judy – you are always so generous with your words. This poem is actually pieces of 12 different cancer stories – from 12 models in a fund-raising calendar for which I am the editor! This is the third calendar we have done and I’ve been so honoured to have played a role in. So – the references are actually more meaningful to the models – thought that was kinda neat.
That is very cool, Stacey! I think you should write a post that explains this fascinating process of collaboration. I love it!
Wow! Stacey, thank you so much for this beautiful, inspirational poem. Your words have expressed exactly how I have felt during my ovarian cancer journey, I agree with Judy. I would love to see this published.
THank you ! I’m not sure I realized you had ovarian cancer?! That – of course – is what I have. Hope you have found some good resources (ovariancancer.org) and know about the Walk of Hope for ovarian cancer (I’m organizing our local walk here in Simcoe County). In a way – this poem will be published in a fund-raising calendar for Gilda’s Club in Barrie – so – thank you for this vote of support. This was a tricky poem to write actually.
I posted about my journey last year at https://wanderingdawgs.com/2020/09/29/ovarian-cancer-awareness-month-2020-my-story/
Eleven years ago I was diagnosed stage 2B ovarian cancer. Today I have been cancer free for 10 years and 3 months. I have an excellent gyn/onc and hospital but sadly there is no local ovarian cancer support group, no Gilda’s Club, no Walk of Hope. There is a group out of New York – Tell Every Amazing Lady – that organized to walks in September but it’s all virtual now since COVID.
I will absolutely read your story and thank you. Mostly – congratulations! Wow – that is inspirational! A teal sister!
Those connections must be such an integral part of healing.
especially the ice cream.
I fully understand that. 🙂 (and, good to see you ‘here’).
Thanks – I think I have a bit of writer’s block these days.. too much happening in the world ..