Stop and smell the roses

It's been a rough day for me. Here I am worrying about trivial things when, BAM! Smacked in the face with devastating news. What was I worried about? Well, I'll tell you. Mike went to the doctor the other day for his 4 year check-up. I had a few questions about his behavior - a week or so ago I didn't think he would make it to 4! Anyway, the doctor said he's a boy and it's just the age. Fine, whatever, he's probably right. So I asked for advice on discipline. Time-outs are good (1 minute per year the child is), taking away privileges, rewarding good behavior. Well I do these things! Short of beating him, many times nothing gets through to him. By the way, no I don't beat my kids. The doctor also asked about preschool. We're doing it at home. Apparently that was not the correct answer, but guess what? That's what we're doing!

So anyway, back to why I need to stop worrying about these trivial things and start embracing the little things. A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer last year. She had gone through chemo and radiation and was very positive about the whole thing. It wasn't spreading and the treatments seemed to be working. Well, she recently went in for a scan and her doctors realized that the cancer had spread. Yes, there is a new experimental procedure they could try which may give her a little more time. But if that doesn't work, she probably has another year.

I am having such a hard time dealing with this. One of my biggest fears is to leave this earth before my children are grown. I want to be there while they grow and become adults and have families of their own. My friend will probably not get a chance to see her daughters grow into adults. I know that some treatments work wonders and cancer patients can go on living a wonderful life for a long time. While this is what I hope for her, what she has is one of the ugliest and hardest cancers to treat.

Other friends are talking about doing a walk in her name, fundraisers, and giving her and her family little things to help them enjoy what time she has. I am all over this and want to help as much as I can. But at the same time, there's only so much I can do. I can't cure her, I can't make this process any easier, and I absolutely hate that feeling of helplessness.

Devastating things like this are reminders to hug your loved ones, call a friend you haven't talked to in a while, and always stop to smell the roses.

Anyone who reads this, please keep this woman and her family in your thoughts and prayers. They need all the good vibes they can get.