A four-letter word with six letters: CANCER

October here in the United States is now National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  In stores, along with the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas items to prepare us all for "The Holiday Season", one sees a lot of pink.

But for someone with MY family history, October is also a month when the ancient belief when the thinning of the veil between this world and the next also allows me to see the members of my family that have gone before, many of whom passed with some form of cancer.  I don't just think of breast cancer, but also of these:

Lymphoma - cancer of the lymph nodes, which was diagnosed in my father, his sister, and her eldest son (my cousin), and possibly was the same cancer that took my Grammy Dow on Halloween in 1967.  (Gram was never officially diagnosed as to which type she had, since she didn't have insurance nor the money to afford the treatments of the time, so she was just kept as painless as possible....)

Melanoma - skin cancer, which has marked many family members over the years.

Myeloma - a cancer that starts in the plasma cells in bone marrow.  An aunt is fighting this as we speak.

Lung cancer - self explanatory, and another one that has taken a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins.

And that's just the ones that come to me as I sit here finishing my second cup of coffee of the morning. 

I'm not writing this because I'm looking for your pity, but rather, as an introduction to a heart-rending message I received this week from one of the readers of my blog.  Her message touched on my own personal loss, but also brings with it a message of hope.  Here is the link to Heather's story about mesothelioma that I ask you to watch:  http://www.mesothelioma.com/heather/#.UmfA3x3D-01

So, why am I writing this blog this morning?  It's really very simple.

If you can afford to make monetary donations to cancer research - or, if other diseases such as Cerebral Palsy (I had a friend with that), or Cystic Fibrosis (a brother-in-law had that), or Diabetes (a LOT of my friends have that) are closer to your heart - DONATE!  With enough funding for research, we may eventually see cures being found for some of the nastier things that can happen to a human.

If you can't donate, PRAY.  Pray for those who have diseases that are taking over their lives, and pray for those who are forced to watch a loved one suffer.

Above all, pass on messages from people like Heather so that more people will become aware of the signs to watch for and will go visit their doctor before the disease progresses to the point that there is no hope for them.

Thank you for reading my very serious message, and for putting me to the point of having 600 visits to my blog in just 4 months.

Blessed be!