Never in
a million years did I ever think I'd honor this
individual with a R.O.A.R.K.E. Not only does this
person not read romance, but I also have rarely
seen any signs of romance from him (until now). In
addition, although I love this man, I have not even
come close to the ideal kind of relationship that
Nora exhibits in her dads in her stories with
families.
Despite all of this,
I feel compelled, no, drawn, to shamelessly and
selfishly honor my dad with this
R.O.A.R.K.E.
You see, over a year
ago, my mom began the fight of her life against
cancer. She has courageously gone through the
chemo (despite severe side effects), radiation, and
any other alternative therapy possible. She has
suffered the indignity of losing her hair (twice)
and her bodily functions. She has done so because
the man she's been married to for over 40 years has
been her rock, her champion.
In the face of losing
one another, my dad has indeed morphed into one of
Nora's heroic dads. Before the disbelieving eyes
of my sister and me, they have almost become the
hero/heroine of one of Nora's stories, as well, as
they cuddle and hug and kiss and hold hands -- all
sorts of mushy things that we'd never expect from
one's parents!
One cannot predict
the future as my mom continues to wage her battle
against this hideous disease (she just began
another round of chemo treatments). But I do know
this -- she has a husband of more than 40 years
with her every step of the way.
Her rock. Her
champion. And without any doubt (at least for me),
her very own version of R.O.A.R.K.E.
It also cannot go
without saying that one of our own is also battling
cancer, Brat Lesa. I do not know all of the
details of her battle, but I do know that she is a
positive force, and she'll do whatever she can to
fight her battle -- and that she has the love and
support and humor of the Brats and the rest of the
BB/Ns to lean upon.
You cannot have lived
without being touched by cancer. An uncle, a
sister, a friend, a famous person ... it's all
around us. Some "win" their battles (Sis is one;
Gaff is another; I know of one person who should be
dead 4 years now -- but she is alive &
thriving), others lose. Through it all, battles
are waged. One day, hopefully within ALL of our
lifetimes, cancer will be completely
defeated.
To that end, I
discovered a website that allows each of us to join
in the battle -- ADWOFF
team -- for
an explanation, go here -->> the
DETAILS. I'm
not sure how it all works; I sometimes do battle
with the program that I downloaded that does the
work. In fact, there are times when I decide I'm
going to pull the plug and retire from the project ... and then
I think of my mom, Sis, Gaff, Lesa, Gord (uncle I
lost to cancer), Randy (friend of brother lost to
cancer before he was 20), Anne (the "walking dead"
-- doctors predicted she'd die in 1997 -- she's
still with us), Jolene (a very good customer of
mine fighting breast cancer), et al ... and all I
can think is, How can I not continue?
So I do. If
my computer crashes, I know the program will start
over. I live with that. If I'm not online when it
finishes one of its calculations, I know that I
have to escape from the program and enter it
again.
See, I deal with
those tiny little hassles because I know that they
are nothing in compared to what those with cancer
are fighting.
In honor of a loved
one that you know who is either fighting cancer or
has fought the battle, please look into this
program. If your computer can support it, please
sign up. Even if you only let the UD program work
during the day (when you're not at home) or at
night (while you sleep), you'd be making a
contribution in the fight against this damnable
disease.
