Mike & I - Summer 2011
Being diagnosed with cancer really, really sucks. However when it happens to you it also happens to everyone around you that you are close to. All the friends and family that love you will no doubt be on this journey with you. For me, I was obviously scared and had no idea what to expect following the discovery of cancer cells in my body, but I was also quite concerned with how my friends and family were going to handle this. It seems like this would be the time to be selfish but I just could not stop worrying about everyone else.When we slowly started to tell people about the cancer, I found that everyone wanted to know what they could do to help. I really did not have any answers to that yet. I knew that I might have some suggestions when we found out more information about what we might expect but really this was a strange new world at this point.
The one thing I did know for sure was that I wanted our friends and family to keep an eye on Mike and make sure he was okay. I knew that he had a very busy year at work coming up and he was also in the second year of his MBA. Plus our kids were young and involved in hockey and many other activities.
Mike was not sleeping as much as he should be because he was using every waking hour to put into the MBA and his work. Now I was adding to his already overloaded plate. I felt horrible about it but I knew that it wasn’t my fault and he would never blame me for it. I didn’t want to cause him any more stress or worry because he had enough of that. I had to be positive and make sure that he was okay. It was a lot for him to deal with. It must be so awful to see someone you love having to go through this kind of news and to await the unknown that would happen next.
Mike & Friends - Summer 2008
I knew I could count on our friends and family to check in with Mike if he needed to talk. I also knew the guys would take him for a beer or to play poker or darts to get his mind off things. I wanted Mike to be able to take a break sometimes. I wanted him to live life and enjoy some time to himself with his friends to just completely forget about things for a while and simply have some fun and a few laughs. Without feeling guilty about it.Mike has always been my pillar of strength and I knew that I could count on him and lean on him whenever I needed it. I was going to need it now more than ever. Although I wanted to reciprocate, I knew that at some point I might not even be able to hold myself up, let alone him. I wanted to be sure that there would be someone for him to lean on when he might need it. Lean On Me - Club Nouveau
