My Best Friend Has Cancer
I thought long and hard about what to title this post. I thought about being witty. I thought about being profound. I thought about using the profanities that come to mind when I think about this messed up situation. I ended up just going with the reality of what’s foremost in my thoughts right now….my best friend has cancer.
Meet Amanda. We’ve been best friends since we were 16. She was the 1st person to talk to me when I moved to a new school and new state. We tossed our caps in the air together at high school graduation. We lived together for 3 years before we both got married. We cried together over boys. We watched endless episodes of Friends (Pivot…pivot…PIVOT!) and Sex & the City (the look we gave each other when Mr. Big’s name was FINALLY revealed! Kind of awkward considering who was watching the episode with us). We stood next to one another and toasted each other as we each married our other best friends. She was the 1st person other than my husband to know that I was pregnant with my daughter. We’ve spent hours on the phone lamenting the challenges of parenting young children. She’s challenged me….she’s supported me…she’s loved me like a sister. More than anyone else in my life she’s shown me what true and real friendship is (and that’s saying a lot because I have some REALLY good friends : )
In September of this year this amazing woman-wife and mother to 3 adorable babies-was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Throughout the ups and downs of the past 10 months she’s shown unwavering faith and courage. She is, without a doubt, the strongest person I know.
Last week she learned that she’d be starting a new type of chemotherapy so she asked that I take some photos of her with her family before she started this new treatment. A very generous client of her company donated the use of their gorgeous home for the evening and we made it happen. I’m so glad that we were able because days after our session she entered the hospital with complications from the chemo and she remains there in ICU tonight.
Amanda has and continues to touch the lives of so many people. I encourage anyone who reads this to reach out and touch HER life. She and her husband don’t need to be worrying about finances right now. They need every ounce of energy they have to go toward healing and toward loving and caring for their 3 little ones. Be it $5 or $50 please consider supporting this family as they fight a battle we all pray we never have to fight.
