Crime like a Cancer

This morning I still feel shattered by the bad news I had yesterday. A friend’s husband has been murdered. I feel completely helpless. There should be something I can do. 

It took a while to sink in and I hung onto the possibility that the person who was telling it to me may have got it wrong somehow ... maybe they didn't hear it properly; did they actually see it happen?  Or were they just passing on a message which they didn't understand? It’s as if my brain refused to process it.

There’s a cancer that’s eating away at our society. It is threatening to undo all the hard work that has gone into building the hope which was generated by the hardships we endured in the past. Cancer needs to be fought with everything you have in order to survive. And with a lot more if you want to carry on living a quality life.

That’s what we have to do with the terrible violent crime that is spreading day by day, touching everyone’s life. You cope by convincing yourself that it cannot happen to you. And then, it is in your circle and hits you in the chest. We have to stand up and fight this, before there is no one left to fight for us.

You’re only beat when you think you are and when you give up the fight. Today I am hanging onto that and feeling sad. Tomorrow I hope that I will remember something that helps me pick up the fight. 

Happy Women's Day

This morning I attended a Women's Day brunch to raise funds for St Luke's Hospice. The keynote speaker delivered an interesting talk from a very different angle - Does the public attention of celebrities with cancer help with cancer awareness? She mentioned many actors, First Wives, singers and captains of industry, who have been diagnosed in recent years with different types of cancer. She could not really answer the question but left us with the message that the real heroes are the ordinary people - the people who you and I know - who battle the disease.

Both my maternal grandparents died of cancer, my grandmother of lung cancer and my grandfather of prostrate cancer which had spread to the bowel. My grandmother spent her last days at the hospice and both my parents have been volunteers there. In recent years several of my friends have been affected directly or indirectly by the disease, mostly with breast cancer. I think that the camaraderie of our circle of friends has helped enormously -  helping with kids, cooking a meal, company during chemotherapy sessions, just being there for a cup of tea and a chat, laughing about choosing a wig or helping to find different ways to tie a scarf.

But at the end of the day, I think that it has come down to them walking that journey by themselves, drawing on inner strength and faith. I can well understand the war terms used to talk about the disease - doing battle, surviving, attacking, long struggles. They have all survived, rising up to the challenge and emerging as stronger women. On this Women's Day, I would like to salute each and everyone of them, those who are in my circle and beyond.