Wow, I feel like I just got hit upside the head with a baseball bat. What a way to start off this post, huh?

When I woke up this morning, I had to talk myself into not calling out today. Admittedly, I have no long term interest in being an art teacher. It's fine for now, but it is not something I see myself doing for the rest of my life. As a matter of fact, I think God has an incredible sense of humor for putting this opportunity in my path. I have absolutely no experience teaching art, and I am the most craft inept person you will ever meet. My brother sapped all the artistic talent in our family!

Anyway, I managed to motivate myself and my kids to get to school. Once I got there, things went great. The day went pretty smoothly considering I'm teaching kids ages 5 through 11! I got out of school and went home. My kids were making their lunches and telling me about their day. We got homework and showers done. I ate dinner before I went off to work at Old Navy. The evening was slow at Old Navy and we got out early. On the whole, this day doesn't seem like a journey worth making mention of. It's a pretty run of the mill day.

It wasn't until I got home that I started to realize that a run of the mill day is a blessing indeed. My husband told me that his cousin Curt was not doing well. Curt has been fighting cancer for at least 8 years. Curt is a father of 4 and a grandfather of 3. He has 3 younger siblings who love him, as well as a doting mother and father. His cancer started out as non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. While some said this was unbeatable, Curt beat it.

After a few years, the cancer came back, but it was not the same cancer as before. I have to admit, I forget a lot of the terminology, but nonetheless, the cancer had come back. Curt had to have a bone marrow transplant. Of the three siblings he has, only one was a match . . . his baby sister. Kris didn't hesitate for a second. The transplant was done, and the cancer was once again in remission. This remission didn't last as long as the other one had. After some time, Curt's cancer came back. He had to have procedure done where they take all the blood out of his body and put new "clean" blood in. The blood was donated once again by Kris with the hopes that since it was Kris' marrow in Curt's body that the marrow would recognize the blood and would generate stronger and more white blood cells. The more of those and the stronger, the more likely the body is to fight the cancer and beat it. I think Curt had to do this twice.

Now, I have to make a comment here. Curt is by far the strongest man I have ever met. Despite being in a tremendous amount of pain, and despite going through all these treatments and the chemo and the radiation, Curt continued to work when he could, go to his kids' soccer games and swim meets. He continued to come to all the family parties that were hosted. Through it all, there was not one word of complaint. He was happy to do it. He was happy to see everyone. He was happy to be alive and be able to do it.

This cancer gradually infected his entire spinal column now. He has tumors on his shoulder and hip. One of them was so big, it broke his collar bone. He has these cyber-knife treatments done regularly now to remove whatever tumors they can. His spinal column is very weak and these treatments are less invasive than chemo or radiation.

I was shocked when my mother-in-law told me at Christmas that Curt's doctors asked him if he wanted to know how long he had. It literally took my breath away. I can't imagine this family without him. Curt decided he didn't want to know how long he had. He was going to live his life fully, not live his life waiting for the end. I respect that, and it just renewed my feelings about him being the strongest man on Earth.

As I said earlier, though, my husband told me tonight that things are not going well. Curt is going to have to be in a wheelchair soon. The family is worried that once he has to go into the wheelchair that he will just give up on life.

At first this made me sad . . . . . .

And then it made me mad!

No, I'm not mad at Curt. Curt is a fighter . . . he is my hero. I am mad that people are doubting him . . . that people are saying he's going to give up. I know this fight has been a long one and it has been a devestatingly hard one. I don't know that I wouldn't have given up long before now. I guess what I'm mad at is that the family seems to be giving up. Come on, people! Think positive. Pray. Ask God for a miracle. I don't know. Just don't give up on him!!! Now is the time to rally around him. Now is the time to show him just how loved he his. This journey of his has been agonizing, but the one thing that has kept him going is his FAMILY!! We cannot give up on him now. Damn it, I WILL NOT give up on him. I will not give up on having HOPE for him.


Curt, I love you very much. I cannot tell you how proud I am of you and all you've accomplished. You truly are an amazing man. I pray for you every single night. My kids, and Darrell pray for you every single night. My kids light candles at church for you. Our eyes filled up with tears at Christmas Eve mass when we sang your favorite Christmas song "What Child is This?". You have no idea how much of a hero you are to all of us. Keep fighting the fight, Curt. I know it's hard. It shouldn't be this hard, but God has chosen this path for you because he knows you are the only one who can make this journey.

I will not give up hope, Curt. I will not stop praying. I will not stop pulling for the Dallas Cowboys, no matter how many times you tell me to stop. :-)

Keep fighting, Curt. I love you!