To Talk or Not to Talk

[JBuck22874 at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/5/2002 5:23:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Anngelica26 at aol.com writes:


> Oh, my Janet, lost your Mom at three, how horrible. I am sure that beautiful 
> Idaho
> lady is watching over you and inspiring you.
>    I had cancer and lost my uterus, then had bone cancer 5 years after that 
> and
> lost my leg, then 8 years later lost my son.  So, I too can feel the pain 
> you feel.
> And I always feel sorry for myself untillll I meet someone else worse off 
> than me
> and that day came about a year ago.  I met a woman who's sister was 
> murdered,
> her only sister.  Then one year later her only two sons, 15 and 16 were 
> killed on
> their way to school in an automobile accident, and 6 months later her 
> husband
> died of a heart attack.  I sat there while she told me her story and a 
> smile came
> to her face.  I could only cry.  It is at these moments I am happy to be 
> alive for the
> rest of the things I have to be thankful for.  Angie 

Hi Angie:

Oh Lord, what a story. You've gone through an incredible amount of suffering 
in a short time too. I know what you mean about the "things could be worse, 
much worse" thermometer that helps one take the temperature of gratitude. I 
was having an MRI the other day for some back pain that was making my leg go 
numb and I was having a hard time standing up. In the waiting room, which was 
so tiny, it seemed ridiculous not to at least say hello to the other lady 
sitting there -- I said hi and asked her if she was having back pain. She 
said, "I have a rare form of inoperable cancer and have been given three 
years to live, but I feel good right now and I'm going to beat the odds."  If 
I'd eaten anything, I'd have thrown up right there on the spot and I thought 
to myself: "What the hell am I bitching about!"

 j
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