[2021-01-05] Pay it forward
My doorbell rang this morning. The young girl who lives next door was on my front steps with a card and a multi-coloured scarf that she had knitted for me. Sofia learned only a few days ago that I have ovarian cancer, after my husband mentioned it to her mom. Sofia's mom later told my husband that her daughter, who had already been knitting a scarf for someone else with cancer, said that she needed to hurry up with the first scarf so that she could knit one for me too. I forgot that story until today.
The card that accompanied the gift was a get-well card, signed by Sofia, her mom and her brother. Sofia wrote: "During these difficult times nothing is easy, and we just want to wish you the best." I was so touched.
Later in the morning, I rang Sofia's doorbell. On her doorstep, I had placed a box of warm Milk Chocolate Chip Scones wrapped with a red ribbon along with a card of thanks and new year's wishes for the family. She asked whether I liked the scarf. I told her that the scarf, which I was wearing, was beautiful. She beamed. There's something so sweet about giving someone the product of one's own hands.
In a separate exchange today, I shared with a fellow cancer survivor that I feel so well supported. She replied: "I knew you’d have lots of support! So many do not."
I worry about this very thing: people who are facing a life-threatening disease alone or the elderly who have few people in their lives. I'd like to find ways to bring some of my positivity to those who may need it. A good challenge for when I retire, I think.
I know that my publishing a blog about my cancer journey has enabled me to connect with many people—not just those I know, such as relatives, friends and colleagues, but also new people, some of whom have had cancer in the past, are in treatment now or have supported someone with the disease.
Perhaps I'll find a way to put other people's stories out into the universe so that they, too, might get back some of the tremendous love that exists out there.
I don't say it enough, but your support is so appreciated. It fills me up and makes me want to pay it forward.
