Monday, July 12, 2010

signatures from the past......

I've been doing some cleaning..

I have two grown children who have left lots of 'stuff' at my house..
During my sorting and purging, I came across a box of 'stuff' of my own. Inside I found stacks of greeting cards I have saved over the years. Many of those were from my mother. She never missed a birthday or anniversary. It was so sweet to see her handwriting, and the "I love you's" she had written...

I also found some letters from a high school friend. She sent these when I lived just far enough away from our little town that it was a long-distance call. We didn't have computers for emailing or cell phones for texting.. The letters held nothing earth-shattering. They just gave information about what my friend was doing that day, and how quickly her children were growing.. I remember how comforting they were at the time. Even though we lived miles apart, we still had a connection to each other. They were so much fun to read again.

Letter writing has become a lost art. I remember how I anticipated the mail delivery each day. Today my mailbox seems so less personal- and not nearly as fun!

I will put my cards from mom in a safe place to look at yet another day... I'm so glad she sent them......

(written September of 2005) I have learned much in the last nine months. I have read that ovarian cancer whispers. I say it screams. It just needs someone to listen. The American Cancer Society statistics for ovarian cancer estimate that there will be 22,220 new cases and 16,210 deaths in 2005. This is a death rate FOUR TIMES that of breast cancer.Almost 70 percent of women with the common epithelial ovarian cancer are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced in stage. The 5-year survival rate for these women is only 15 to 20 percent. This is unacceptable. Women need to be made more aware of the symptoms, and doctors need to listen to their patients. Especially when the patient tells them that they fear they have ovca, as my mother did for almost a year before she was finally diagnosed. It’s so sad and senseless when a woman knows the symptoms but can’t get anyone to listen to what she is saying.

©JsDaughter