very Profound!

Friday morning, on our way to school, we were listening to Mark and Caroline, they were doing a story on a little girl on the Sunshine Coast called Jessie Walker, who, on her 6th Birthday was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer of the kidney that has now spread to her lungs. People were phoning in donating cash and one listener donated a car for them to drive to Brisbane for chemo treatment. It was terribly heartbreaking to hear the story of this family and the boys were listening intently.

Cameron asked how could a child, who doesn't smoke, get cancer. He then expressed his concern for his sister, who thinks she's a chimney! His own Grampy, who had suffered with lung cancer and emphysema, would He get it? Would mum or dad get it? How do Animals get it? Really quite interesting questions he was asking.

So we ended up in deep conversation about the perils of smoking and how it only contributes to cancer etc. I had to explain to him, how, even if you haven't ever smoked you can still get cancer, how it's hereditary etc. It's funny,(not funny ha-ha) how children think you can only get cancer from smoking because that's what advertising tells them.

I told him all about my Nanna Kath, who in 1965 was diagnosed with Leukaemia and how my last memory of her, on the 5th November 1968, was as we were leaving to emigrate for Australia, we visited her at the hospital, children weren't allowed in for fear of catching this dreadful disease, so she stood at the window of the sanitarium (that's where they put cancer patients in those days) waving goodbye and crying.No goodbye hugs, no kisses, just a wave from a window about 6 floors up. I was only 7 at the time and I remember it as if it were yesterday. (this is leading somewhere lol).

I went on to tell him, how proud I was of my Nanna, because in those days, cancer killed, there was no way out, not like today. BUT my Nanna, believed in the doctors, so she agreed to be a human guinea pig and let them trial this new treatment they had invented called Chemotherapy. That was in the days, when they needed to use humans to see if it would be ok. She selflessly agreed so it would help other people. It worked and she didn't die until 1976. I know she was only one in thousands, but she was our one, and for that, I am proud!

He took it all in, listening, asking a question here and there, nodding, for a moment, he seemed just too grown up, just to wise, it was weird having this very in-depth conversation with a 12 yr old. MY 12 yr old!

All of a sudden, in his profound infinite wisdom He looks at me and says..

Now I get it, Cancer is like a serial killer, it doesn't care who it takes, it just kills for the sake of killing someone. It doesn't care if someone loves that person or not, or how old that person is. or if that person is rich or poor. If your on the same path that the serial killer is on, it'll get you! It just wants to kill for it's own gratification.

AND in that instant, I knew he was absolutely correct!