Thriving Past Cancer: Marine's Journey

Recently a student approached me and asked, "Ms, will you please help me put on a talent show for our school?" I asked, "Why? Why do we need one?" Her response, "Because people need to smile more!" This child and I share a common secret. I know the depths of the hell she's endured as surely as she knows the ones I walked through last year. She hasn't shared her truth with others. I'm not quite sure how many people actually know. But when I lay in my hospital bed last year, a pigeon in the guise of a fellow educator brought me a message from her, one which she hoped would give me enough strength with which to rise out of my darkness. I held on to her testimony as the days melted into each other. Had she not shared, had her words evaporated in her mind- Her word-her journey- her testimony shaped my today. Just like each of our words will shape the lives of others. I haven't actively sought out others. They seem to find me, be it a