Warning: This is not a warm fuzzy blog, beware of tears!

I found out today some terrible news concerning an aquaintance of mine. I would normally use the word friend to describe this wonderful woman but do not feel worthy to call myself her friend tonight. A true friend would have been aware of the trials in her life and not been as blind sided as I was this evening. She is an inspiring person. She and her husband are both very active in the community and schools. She is kind and always goes out of her way to make people feel important and welcomed. She is always willing to help whenever needed. She loves her children and is the kind of mother I can only hope to become. She battled ovarian cancer several years ago but very few people were aware of her trial. She never complained and continued to volunteer as much as she could. I have not been as involved in the PTA this year as I was last year. Due to my church calling, I have only attended one PTA meeting this year. I was not aware that this dear woman was also absent from the meetings. I was not aware that she had stopped helping at the school. Tonight I found out that the cancer has returned. This time it has spread throughout her entire body and hospice has been called in. My heart aches tonight. It aches for her 7 year old son who is watching his mommy slowly die, old enough to to see what is happening but not understand why. It aches for her 5 year old daughter who will most likely board the bus on her first day of kindergarten next fall without her mommy blowing her kisses and waving goodbye. It aches for my friend who looks at her children overy day knowing that she won't be around to take part in the tiny and big events of their lives. It aches that there is nothing I can do to lessen the pain for this family. All I can do is offer a prayer in their behalf and give thanks for each day I have with my husband and children.