Thief

Like a thief in the night, cancer has come and stole from us. It's taken away so much from our entire family. And yet, there is no retribution. No police to capture it. No judge to punish it. 

What has it stolen? 

It's stolen independence.

The very thing we as parents instilled in our child from the very beginning, was to do for yourself so others don't need to do it for you. But no longer. The thief has taken the ability to walk to the bathroom by herself. To feed herself. To color by herself. 

It's stolen her smile.

Once the life of the party, always ready for a good laugh, we now wait to see and hear what was once so freely given. 

It's stolen our bond. 

Maybe not entirely. But it has changed it immensely. Sisters that once played together all day, are now in separate rooms now because the thief came. The times of laying all together on the bed and making up silly songs can no longer be. 

It's stolen days.

No longer do we assume we had a lifetime of memories because the thief has shortened this lifetime to a much shorter period. Graduation. Wedding. First baby. All taken. 

My heart is broken in thinking all that has been taken. But what good would it do to stop here. I can't get back any of these things. I can't. But I can see what the thief can NOT take.

It can't take our love. 

Love lives on through eternity. Love endures all things. Love lasts all things. 

It can't take our hope.

Knowing that pain will be gone. Reunions will happen. A future will be. 

It can't take our memories. 

Perhaps we will not be able to make as many as we once thought, but we will always remember the ones we have. Like the time we built a fort in the living room. Or the 5 times in a row  we rode on the dinosaur roller coaster. Or how every night, when we pray we thank God for one another. 

I am sad. I am weary. But I can not stop there. I know that this is not over. That good is still coming. And to the thief that thinks it took so much, know that the soul is eternal. And that can never be stolen.