With adversity, comes toughness, grit and love. I know this because I see this where I live and I live on an amazing street. There is such a sense of community. The families on my street often get together “just because” or to celebrate holidays like Halloween. The moms on the block get together with even more regularity. It is easy to celebrate when times are good. But what separates people is what they do when times are bad.
One of the gals on our street is fighting ovarian cancer at the ripe ol’ age of 39. She has two children aged two and four. As soon as we heard the details, we banded together and created a menu calendar–meals are being taken care of for months to come. Neighbors have their kids over and someone even raked their leaves yesterday!
She turns 40 today, on the day of her second chemo treatment. I decided a celebration was in order. No one should “celebrate” their 40th birthday doing chemo so I invited all the moms on the block over for cake and wine last night. Eleven women showed up and it was heartwarming to see the love and solidarity in the room. One of my friends (that does not live on the block) offered to bake the cake for the party. The cake was delicious and paired well with the laughs and conversation. I believe our fighting friend and neighbor stands a chance of beating this ugly disease because she knows we are all rooting for her…she can do this! And we will be an even stronger community when she reaches the end of her chemo treatments.