Would you believe it?

Sometimes people survive.
Sometimes sarcoma subsides.
Ten years of testing.
Surgical interjection.
Physical therapy.
Getting on with it.
It's clear.
The tests are clear.
The implications of that aren't.

I don't have any more scheduled check ups.
Just come back if there are concerns... Cancer-related ones specifically (of course).

So now... Eri?
Now what?

Better, smarter, more accomplished men & women than I have walked through those doors but aren't walking this earth today. I am.

Now what?

Gratefulness.
Responsibility.
Restlessness.
Humility.

The journey didn't end, just the ritual.

Chances are that something will pop back up eventually but there's no sense lingering on that.

I'll enjoy not having to pay for an MRI every year (or more frequently). I'll try not to squander this added bonus time.

There's another person on the planet because the cancer didn't do what it could have.

Now what?

The specter of COVID-19 looms in the air now, it's clear that many are out of practice in confronting mortality. How do we balance the common inevitability of death with the immense value each life holds?

Infinite value and seemingly infinitesimal smallness, coexistent.

We save lives that we can, but how realistic are the expectations? How does one cut through the naivete' gently? Can it be done if one is resistant or steeped in entitlement?
We will see.
What will be, will be.