Heart-Warming Story

In my effort to be more positive and react with more equanimity to events beyond my control, I'm making an effort to focus more on the positive things in my life and less on the bothersome aspects.  I had also made a commitment to spend more time with my friends since I've become somewhat of a hermit.  (I made a comment to my brother and his wife that I'm becoming more agoraphobic as I get older, and my brother said he was too, and his wife heartily agreed with that assessment.  Maybe it's genetic?  I'm also worried that I'm becoming more misanthropic, so I'm trying to spend more time in social situations.)  So yesterday I had lunch with a former coworker and really enjoyed myself.  I also feel inclined to share her story because it's so amazing.

She had cancer in her early twenties and really thought she was going to die for awhile.  But after several rounds of chemo-therapy and some female surgeries, her cancer went into remission.  Of course she was left with the knowledge that the cancer could come back at any time, and that she'd never be able to have children.  She recently had a job as a consultant and was traveling from Denver to New York City usually 3 weeks out of the month, where she would work 16-hour days most days.  She was feeling really crummy and at first chalked it up to being tired from her long hours and travel.  But it wasn't getting better and she started to fear that her cancer was back.  With her schedule being what it was, she never made time to go and see the doctor.

Her long-term boyfriend proposed to her, and when she accepted he told her he was committed to her, and needed her to go see the doctor so they could figure out together how to move forward.  They did some tests at the doctor's office and told her that her cancer was still in remission, and the reason she was feeling so lousy was because she was pregnant.  She told them that wasn't possible and something was obviously wrong with the tests.  So they did an ultrasound, and sure enough, there was a little heartbeat.  She's now married, a very proud momma to a beautiful 4-month old baby girl, and perfectly healthy.

So often these situations don't turn out like this, but this time everything worked out and my friend is healthy and happier than she's ever been.  She had resigned herself to a life without children, so the news took some getting used to, but now that she's become a mother she couldn't imagine life without her little one.  There really are good things that happen in this world, and because there are also so many bad things that happen, it's especially important to celebrate these types of positive events.