Yesterday a wonderful lady, Barbara, passed away. She was a kindergarten teacher at the school where I used to work. I loved Barbara! She was a perfect kindergarten teacher! She was well loved and just an amazing, good person! She will be missed. Since Barbara died of a brain tumor, it reminded me of two other amazing people. The first is Donna, another teacher from my school. She had a long and difficult battle with cancer. She was an inspiration to us all. She was always so positive and she had so much faith! What I remember about Donna (besides her faith and positive attitude) was laughter. She always seemed to be so happy. I can remember being on duty with her after school (not a fun job) and she would make me laugh. She touched so many lives. I think of her often.
The other amazing person I am reminded of is my brother. Two years ago we found out he had cancer (on my birthday no less!). It was a throat cancer. Unfortunately, the statistics for throat cancer are not good. They said it was quite advanced, they found it in a some lymph nodes, and they weren't sure where it had originated. I, along with my family, were distraught. I was so afraid for him. I think I kind of shut down for a while. I was very, very depressed and scared. But, Gary was amazing. He faced his trials with so much strength, determination, and even humor. He had to undergo a horrible surgery to his neck which they call a "radical neck dissection." As he said at the time, anything with that name can't be good. It left a painful wound on his neck. Then he had to do chemo and radiation. During the radiation treatments, he had to wear a face mask and it caused him to be very anxious. His treatments caused the skin of his neck to be burned as well as the inside of his mouth and throat. He lost all sense of taste and had to have a stomach tube to get nutrition. It was a horrible, horrible time. Gary was amazing. He calmed and reassured all of the rest of us. He is in good health now and we are very thankful. He continues to amaze us with his positive attitude. I love my brother very much and I am thankful for his example. I do not think I could face cancer and the treatments that go along with it, the same way he did. (Or Donna and Barbara) Some people are just amazing!
