Perspective

Todd: Are you okay with me not going with you to Evee's appointment tomorrow?

Me: Ya, don't worry about it, it's only Oncology (cancer doctor)

Todd: Are you being sarcastic?
Pause
Me: No....but I can see how you would think that

On top of Evee's many specialists she is seeing, she is now seeing an Oncologist. This is because she does have an increased risk of develping a childhood cancer, but I really am not too worried. If she were to develop a tumor, she is being screened with bloodwork every 6 weeks and ultrasound every 3 months so it would be discovered very early.
The difficult part of going to the oncologist was being in the waiting room. It's a Pediatric Oncologist, so of course all of the patients are under 18 years old. I saw 4 other patients in the waiting room, but by looking at them I felt very grateful for Evelyn's health. One playful 10 year-old bald girl was helping with her younger sister, one 14 year-old (I am estimating their ages) girl had really short hair and was sitting between her parents, and one 16 year-old boy came in and though he had a full head of hair, it seemed that he was well known by the nurses and staff - something that only occurs if you are there frequent enough. My heart went out to these cheerful kids. They knew what it was like to go through hard things, yet they all seemed very kind and happy. I held Evelyn a little closer and felt so thankful for how well she is doing.
I have also had many other opportunities to ponder and reflect on how blessed I am by God, how fortunate I am, and that I have very little room for complaining or even to feel as though I have experienced some hard trials.
Today my thoughts have been on a friend of mine, and her family. This friend, Dawn, had moved to the Cleveland area at the same time Todd and I did. She and her husband did not have any children yet, but they were anxiously awaiting for the day that God would bless them with dear angels. Todd was soon called to be a counselor to Dawn's husband in the Elder's Quorem, and Dawn was soon called to be Mikey's Sunbeam teacher, and my Visiting Teacher. With all of these things that brought us together, we were fortunate to get to know Dawn and Colby (her husband) a little better.
Soon Dawn and Colby were blessed with their first son. He was born just a couple of months after Grant and we would swap stories of pregnancy ales, but nonetheless, Dawn was thrilled in every way to be becoming a mother. Three years later she had a second son.
Fairly soon after becoming a mother of two, there was talk of Dawn and Colby purchasing a house on the other side of Cleveland. I couldn't blame them for they had lived in a condo for the past three years and Colby had been very successful in his work. They ended up moving, without giving too many details. They were wonderful people in our church who gave so much service to so many people. They were always sincerely asking how everyone else was doing or seeing how they could help rather than trying to steal the "show" themselves.
Just a couple of weeks ago I learned that Dawn had actually had breast cancer, stage 4, untreatable, and was on hospice. My heart ached for her and her little family. Because of my beliefs in the Resurrection and the Plan of Salvation, I felt comfort in knowing where she was going and that all would be well, but I did feel sorrow for her for I knew that she loved her husband and boys so dearly and I knew she would grieve over the thought that she would not be able to be physically with them as they grew and matured. She knew first-hand the sting of having a mother pass before her time for her own mother had died of breast cancer as well.
But my biggest heartache is for the family Dawn leaves behind. Her husband loved her so much, which who could blame him. And I know that her boys (ages 4 and 1) love her and will miss her. I know that it isn't going to be just a week or a month away from their momma, but rather they are going to have to learn how to deal with the rest of their mortal life with out having physical contact with her.
My heart aches every time I tell my boys that I will be away from them for a couple of hours as I will be taking to Evee to another doctor's appointment, but my ache and my trial is nothing. Learning of Dawn's situation helped me put a real perspective on my "trial". I have no room to complain and rather am incredibly blessed.
Dawn passed away last week and her funeral was held today. She was such a beautiful woman, a strong yet soft spoken woman that was admired by many. She had many reasons she could have been prideful, but she remained humble and loving all her days.
The next time we feel overwhelmed, or that our lot in life is hard, may we all squeeze our children a little tighter as we think of this angel who had to leave hers to return to live with our Heavenly Father. May we put real perspective in our own lives and realize that the menial things are not important but rather our faith and family is where our joy lies.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=dawn-winegar&pid=160369691#fbLoggedOut