Kathleen is my Middle Name

The first Kathleen stepped into my life at a time when I needed her most. She was wanting to conceive a child, and it just had not happened yet. I was wanting to conceive a child, and I was going through tests and treatments to try to make that happen. Month after month I would be hopeful as I waited. And month after month I would feel those "before" cramps, and I knew. My hopes would come crashing down around me. Kathy had such a way of cheering me up. She was funny, loud, and just plain jovial! Then, one day she wasn't so jovial. She proceeded to tell me that she had felt a sizable lump in her breast that the doctor wanted to check out. We discovered that her cancer was stage 4 by the time it was found and diagnosed. Within months, she reunited with her Jesus in Heaven. But, during those months she taught me so much about life. She taught me to take deep breaths and take in God's wonder as we learned to paint together. She taught me to laugh even when it hurt. She allowed me to care for her and massage cream into the burns that radiation had caused. She leaned on me to walk, and I leaned on her to help heal my heart. I was there at her deathbed when she gasped for breath, and I felt her peace as she went home.

When I hold my Kathleen in my arms, my prayer is not for her to experience a pain-free life. My prayer is that she stands with grace, honor, and dignity as did the first Kathleen. And, maybe, just maybe, she'll bless a few friends along the way.