[quote=bearishgurl]eavesdropper, it was 2004, for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful and my youngest kid loved touring all the monuments with her cousin. Easter Sunday was a cold 39 degrees – LOL.

I was visiting my dear younger sister who lived in MD. She was a very successful controller for a large defense contractor there – not far from DC. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in Jan. 2007 and lasted 10 mos. after that. She had the same exact medical insurance policy as the Presidential Cabinet, yet nothing could be done for her. She was treated by the finest hospitals in the country (UMMC Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins) but it didn’t matter.

With a Masters Degree in Taxation, she left behind a spouse of 27 yrs., two teenage sons, a $1M life policy from work, approx. $3.25M in Fidelity funds and a large paid-for house. None of it matters to me because she’s gone. She was a math whiz at 14 and planned her life perfectly from the get go and benefited from her planning (up to a point) and then . . . it was all over . . . quickly.

She valiantly tried to survive for her first son’s HS graduation . . . to no avail. There is no cure at stage 4 . . . it was too late.

I still think of her every day.[/quote]

bearishgurl, I’m sorry to have asked a question that resulted in painful memories for you, and I am sorry that you and your family have gone through this experience.

Your sister did everything right. Cancer is a crapshoot, no matter what type, what grade, what stage. With all of the information we have uncovered about cancer at its cellular level in the last 20 years, there is still so much about these diseases that we don’t know. However, the one painful, but valuable lesson that many cancer patients learn is the one you cite: you can plan out your life to the most infinitestimal detail, but, at any time, anything can come along and cast you adrift. It can take a long while to come to the realization that you have no control, and that all you can do is hang on for the ride, however long it may last.

It’s been ten years for me, and every day, in and of itself, is a gift. Much as that might sound like a Hallmark card, I’m not trying to come off as platitudinous. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve received a UPS delivery from Neiman Marcus…like having Christmas 365 days a year. It’ll be like that until something else comes along that makes me grab onto that rope.

I’m sorry for your painful memories, but I hope that 2004 won’t be your last Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington DC needs more visitors with rabbit fur jackets and Ditto jeans.