Mail Call

Before my mom died and my best friend got email, I used to look forward to getting my mail everyday. I could usually count on a card, letter or newspaper clipping (thanks, Mom) at least a couple of times a week. When Cathy and I started exchanging email, it seriously put a damper on our card and letter exchange. Cathy is still better at it than I am (and she always was), but for the past few years, my mail box contained only bills and junk mail except around major holidays.

However, I realized yesterday that I'm starting to look forward to the mail again. (Another gift of cancer.) For the past few weeks, I've started receiving cards pretty regularly from family and friends. I can usually count on 2-3 cards a week. And, Cathy sends me a new care package every week. She says she's having as much fun putting them together as I am receiving them!

The first week, it was just a package of Oreos. She wrote in the enclosed card, "Just thought I'd send some love—encased in chocolate with a sweet, creamy filling..." This week, I could smell the lavendar soap she enclosed before I even opened the package. It left me wondering if my mail carrier likes the scent of lavendar. I hope so.

My favorite cards are the funny ones... such as the one my friend Carla sent. It has a photo on the front showing a bull's rear with gigantic testicles hanging down between his back legs. (I wanted to scan it, but don't have access to a scanner right now.) To explain the photo (which Carla took, being the talented photographer she is), she wrote inside, "This photo reminded me that you've got some 'big balls' going through this choosing to gather your gifts!" Thanks, Carla. That meant a lot.

The "Get Well" cards mean a lot too, but it's always a little odd to get them since I don't actually feel sick. With the exception of the few days around chemo, I feel completely normal. When I'm feeling normal, it's pretty surreal to even think of myself as having cancer. It sure doesn't feel like what I'd thought it feel like... mostly because I thought it would feel different than the way I normally feel. It doesn't. And, even, on chemo days, I don't feel sick. I feel tired. I need lots of rest, but the anti-nausea meds ensure that I never feel sick.

So, all of this is to say, I love the cards... keep 'em coming! However, I'm going to request that when you shop for cards, look for cards that are funny, happy, positive, and aren't focused on being sick, but on being well. I think that half the reason that I'm able to stay as positive as I am and feel as good as I do is that I don't focus on being sick. I focus on being well. So, send me cards I can laugh or smile at because I'm not living in dark times. I'm living in one of the most incredible, rewarding times of my life. And those aren't just empty words. I mean them with every inch of my soul.