Amidst some of the worst times, I began keeping a journal that I bought in the gift shop at the cancer treatment center. The front of it said, “Keep Calm and Trust God”. Sounded good to me. I just starting writing. No real direction at all. Just writing.
There were days when I was too sick, too tired, too this or that to put pen in hand.
One day out of the clear blue, however, came this – “Kelly, you need to turn this into a book” This stunned me because the lips uttering these words were non other than Scott’s.
He could barely even talk about what was going on with me. Well then, you see, he would have to confront his own feelings about the whole situation. Fear, anger, frustration, etc. He knew, however, that my new found hobby was doing some good for me.
“A book”, I repeated, just to be clear that I’d heard him correctly. “Why, not?”
There were a million reasons why not, of course, but the nagging feeling that my struggle could be someone else’s survival guide just wouldn’t leave. In 2020, I started the journey of turning my journal into a series of essays on my struggle with cancer, and just over two years later, here it is.