A sad day.

Today is many things to many people.  It is the 7th of December, 2010.  It is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is the day that Elizabeth Edwards past away after a long battle with breast cancer.  When I heard this news it was like being punched in the gut...more than once.  I have never met Elizabeth Edwards and now will never have the chance but I can say that her story helped me more than once during my own struggles with non-hodgkins lymphoma.  She is an inspiration.  She taught me about grace, strength, emotion, family, and playing the hand that you are dealt no matter how difficult.  Over the last several years I have read many articles and watched many news stories about Elizabeth and the Edwards' family, even before my own cancer diagnosis she was a woman that I wanted to know about.  I wanted to sit and have lunch or tea and ask her questions and learn about her as a person.  Unfortunately, she and I (as well as so many others) are part of a club that none of us wanted to be a part of.  We have experienced being diagnosed with cancer, we have fought the hard battles in an effort to save our own lives, we have advocated for others and their lives, we have seen others lose their battle, we have cried, we have laughed, we have made inappropriate cancer jokes, above all else our lives have been forever changed.

Elizabeth Edwards, you will be missed.  By me and countless others who have met you and who have not.  My heart goes out to you and to your family.  You will not be forgotten.