Melanoma Monday

Melanoma Monday is the first Monday in May.  It's used to raise awareness of the disease.

A friend sent me this photo of my husband, James.  The pictures of James growing up are few & far between.  I have just one tote of pictures from when James & his siblings were growing up.  They're all young childhood pictures.  Before this, I think I've seen only one other picture of my husband as a teenager.

It's so neat to see James like this.  I didn't officially meet him until he was 22.  I'm so thankful that I got 15 years to know him.  I wish I had known him earlier & I wish he was still here.  He evolved so much as a person & I was looking forward to many more years with him.

Last year, I didn't know I would be a widow.  I didn't realize how deadly Melanoma can be.  Melanoma can spread more quickly & earlier than many other forms of cancer.

In James's case, his Melanoma developed from a mass in his left underarm region.  It was a race against time until the treatments could no longer keep up with cancer.  After 7 months of battle, James peacefully passed away.

After watching everything James went through, I wish this cancer on no one.  The end stages are terrible.  James was only a shell of who he was.  I'm just so thankful that he was able to find clarity for a little while in the last hours of his life. 

Death is sad at any age, but James had so much life ahead of him.  We finally became parents & were looking forward to the next chapter of our lives.  It has now become a chapter he will never see.  Our son's birth certificate came after James passed away.  It was yet another reminder of a life James will never get to live.

That's the thing about cancer: it doesn't care.  It doesn't care what age you are.  It doesn't care that you have children.  It doesn't look at your financial status or your workload before it comes knocking at your door.  It doesn't care that you were once a child full of dreams.  It's a battle all the way through & success isn't guaranteed.

After witnessing how short life can be, I now live by the motto, "Life is short, make it sweet."  I try to find the beauty in every day & take nothing for granted anymore.  My favorite thing to do now is to catch the sunrise & sunset any chance I can.

The little things in life mean the most to me now.  Keep the people you love close.  Love with all you have.