Fanfare for a Friend
Two days after Christmas a friend of mine died. He too had cancer and was diagnosed a few months before I was. During chemotherapy we messaged each other a few times comparing experiences and lack of hair! He was also a musician (he played the trumpet, of was it flugal horn?) and a Christian. When I heard the news about his death yesterday I was not prepared for the range of emotion that came over me. It suddenly brought everything back - all those feelings of sadness when I was first diagnosed. I kept thinking 'That could be me. That could be me'. We had such a happy Christmas, made all the sweeter that I was there to share in it. But my friend's Christmas was very different. Our lives and journeys were similar and intersected on a variety of levels, yet he is gone and I am still here. I guess I have a bit of survivor's guilt. I just need to accept that I will never understand all of God's plan for our lives. He gives and he takes away, yet my heart will c