The Writer's Right

Courage

When you think of the word courage, what images come to mind? Do you see a fire fighter rushing into a building, a soldier at war, whose facing the enemy, or a police officer, chasing down a dangerous suspect? I have to admit, those were the imagines of courage that came to my mind, and still do. But now, another image comes to me.

Courage is the ability to face one of life’s biggest challenges. I mean really stare it in the face and not back down. Courage is the ability to say, “Ok, sure, life’s dealt me this shitty hand, but I’m going to get through it with my head held high.”

I’ve seen the true face of courage this week. My friend’s husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer a year ago. Instead of running and hiding, he faced it, full on. His friends and family spoke of his courage when faced with an uncertain future. He accepted his fate and moved forward. I’m sure there were times where he and his family were terribly frustrated, but he went onward. One of this best friends talked about how he was brave in his last year of life at his funeral today.

As I talked with his wife at the wake last night, I thought, wow, she’s so brave. She’s laughing and smiling and putting her best face forward. She’s so strong. That’s courage.

Today, I saw her and her son break down several times at the funeral as their father and husband here eulogized and honored and I found a new sense of admiration for them. I thought that the way they expressed themselves like that, with such true emotion, is a whole new kind of courage. They showed how much they loved this man in front of everyone. We could all feel it. We all wept with them.

Cindy and Matt, you both are so brave and showed us all such courage this week. I pray for strength for both of you, you’ve shown so much already. 

1. My dearest Samantha, thank you for your words.  You can get through anything that life throws at you if you know love.  I am the luckiest woman alive.  I know the great love of family and friends and was blessed to love and have been loved by the most wonderful man in the world-my knight in shining armour.  He always claimed it was pretty rusty armour, but I knew better. 
   All my love-Cin

   Posted by  on  07/03  at  07:23 AM
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