Uninvited

Dear Cancer,

I never invited you in. You barged into my life unannounced, unwelcomed, and completely unraveled the world I had worked so hard to hold together. As a single mom working full time, I was already stretched thin but you didn’t care. You came with fear, with pain, with questions no one could answer. You brought exhaustion, heartbreak, and a future that suddenly felt so uncertain. You made me feel vulnerable in ways I never had before.

But here’s what you didn’t expect; I’m still here and thriving.

You thought you could destroy me and while you did take pieces of my life that I will never be able to get back, you also ironically revealed things that I might never have seen without you.

You stripped away everything unnecessary and left me with what truly matters. You made time slow down, made me hold my loved ones tighter, speak more honestly and love more fiercely. You gave me the perspective to see that every single day is a gift, not a guarantee.

You exposed my deepest fears while also uncovering my deepest strengths. I found power that I didn’t know existed in me. I learned how to ask for help, lean into people at a time that I wanted to do it all myself, to receive love without shame and to let people in. Friends, family, coworkers, and strangers became part of my strength. You revealed a community I didn’t know I had.

And the greatest surprise of all? In the middle of the chaos, when love felt like something only meant for “healthy” people, I met the love of my life. You didn’t see that coming, did you? He walked in with grace, steadiness and a kind of love that didn’t flinch at the mess. A year and a half after diagnosis, I married him. While you tried to write my story with fear and loss, love came in and rewrote it with hope and joy.

So as you can see, you didn’t win. Even if you change my story forever, I get to choose how it’s told. My story fortunately isn’t just about sickness. It’s about resilience, connection, love and faith. It’s about discovering that even in the middle of heartbreak, there can still be beauty.

So, cancer, I will never say thank you, you too way too much for that but I will say this, you didn’t get to steal the meaning from my life. You didn’t get to stop love from multiplying. You didn’t stop me from becoming softer, stronger, and more present. You didn’t get to decide how my story continued.

I did and I am ‘uninviting’ you from my life forever.

Sincerely,
A Wife, Mom, Fighter, Survivor