Children and Cancer

I was blog hopping this morning...you know, when you read something on one person's blog, then pick one of their friends and just look at other blogs. I was looking to see if I could add some more blogs to my read list... Anyway, I only made it 2 hops.  Someone had left a comment on one of my blog posts, I went to her page and then found a random blog that she follows. It had a creative title: It Takes Villages. It didn't occur to me that this could be a heart breaker of a blog...It follows the diagnosis and treatment of a little boy with cancer. They found a grapefruit size renal tumor that was metastatic and bad...He is going through treatment and it sounds like it is going well. I didn't read every post, but I jumped around and read the oldest ones. I was curious about the type of cancer it was and all that.

But it really opened my eyes. I don't think that I treasure my children enough. I have these 3 absolutely beautiful and healthy children. With the exception of minor surgeries the girls had to correct urinary reflux, they have not had health problems. They learn quickly. They are actually really well behaved, even if I do complain about it. They do what they are asked and ask what they can do. They yearn for me to give them chores (why have I not again). I love my children with all my heart. But I really feel like I haven't taken the time to treasure my children as much as they deserve.

It made me think about what I would do if one of my kids were diagnosed with cancer. I have dealt with too much cancer in my life. Of course, to me dealing with one person with cancer is enough, but I have dealt with more than 1. Cancer took my Grandma Pierce in 1990. A brain tumor, though I don't know any other details. Cancer took my mother in 2006--non-secretory multiple myeloma. I think that my Grandpa Pierce also had some form of cancer...but I am not 100% sure. I still have to work on getting all that medical history up to date. Loosing them was awful.

I still remember the day that I found out my Grandma Pierce had died. We knew she was sick, because they had canceled their trip to come see us for Christmas and dad had left a day or so earlier to go see her. We had gotten ready for school and mom was sitting on the couch in our family room. She told us that she was leaving that day to go to Hawaii because Grandma had died. I am sure she told us more than that, but that is all that comes to mind. Later that day at school I was getting my books out of my locker and was so frustrated and emotional that I dropped them on my face. (I had the shelf on top) I think I had a black eye later that day, I don't remember. I just remember telling my teacher that my grandma died.

The day that mom died never leaves my thoughts. There is too much emotion in my life right now, to relive that, but you can browse my old blog at lubbockclaytons.blogspot.com and find various posts about my moms death. Suffice it to say, It was the hardest moment of my life.

To think of having to go through all that with a child just breaks my heart. Even if it isn't the loss of a child. The chemo, the illness, the sadness, all of that over a child I just can't even imagine.

So I am going to make a resolution of sorts. From this day forward, I am going to do my best to treasure my children. I am going to take each day to make sure that they know how much I love them and treasure them. I am going to teach them the treasures of the gospel, so that if they ever have to suffer through losses like I have, they will have a strong gospel base to rely on for comfort and strength. I am going to take my children and love them more than they can imagine, because I want them to know how much I treasure every moment that I get to spend with them!

PS--The picture on the site is one of the new pictures that we had taken by Jessica Jeppson! It is not a final version, but I had to put a picture of my kids up!