It’s Called Hope & Optimism

You might not know that I am a cancer survivor. I had Hodgkin’s one of the most-curable forms of lymphoma. I have been in remission for many years and I very seldom even think of my illness. It isn’t part of my day to day life, with the exception that my immune system may still be a little weaker and I catch every little flu or cold bug that goes around. Even though I have been a teacher for many years, since my son started pre-school, like all families in our situation, we’ve all been ill more often. I just get a little more ill than my kids do with the same virus.
I was discussing this with a teacher at my son’s school yesterday and when I told her I had had cancer, she reacted very strangely. She said something to the effect of (my translation) “I hope that never comes back. There is always a risk and now that you have these two little children…”

I was shocked that she would say something like that. So I thought some more to make sure I understood what she had said. I felt like my decision to bear children had been questioned and I didn’t respond. After a longer than comfortable pause, she said, “Life never has any guarentees.”

No, it doesn’t.  Here we are, this supposedly rational human species having children even though madmen, fanatics and dumb men have access to nuclear arms (and have for more than 60 years). Here we are conceiving and birthing and loving babies while the Earth runs out of resources while, any of us, could be struck down by a car when crossing the street.

And we do it because love exists on this fragile place with hope and optimism as its constant companions. Bad things can happen to individuals, to entire peoples, countries and planets. And, after mourning and recovery, life is still worth living.  Life is more than killing time, waiting to die. It’s full of learning and reasons to keep on living.
Every day motherhood affirms my faith in humanity, in this planet and in life itself. If anything, this world needs more hope and optimism.