A Battle NOT Lost

For the last little while I have been following the Joey+Rory story.
They are a husband and wife country singing duo.
I have never heard anything like her voice.
Calm, inspiring - just amazingly beautiful.
If you haven't heard her sing, youtube their name.
(I especially love these songs - That's Important to Me, In The Time That You Gave Me and When I'm Gone)
She has been in the news a lot since she was diagnosed with cancer. 
It spread even though she did everything the doctors told her. 
She endured the surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Her husband has been writing about her journey, his feelings and their family.
(http://thislifeilive.com/)
He is an amazing writer.
I usually cry when I read his updates.
I think it is amazing to be able to convey that much love and feelings into words.
I hope to aspire to that one day.

This is an excerpt from one of his latest blog posts:
 
In the 40 short years that Joey has lived, my bride has accomplished many great things… she’s lived a very full life.  But even more than that, she has loved those around her greatly and been loved greatly in return.  I can honestly say that Joey’s isn’t just a life well-lived, it’s a life well-loved.

God only gives each of us a certain amount of time to be on this earth and every day when we wake up, we get to decide how we are going to spend those precious minutes and hours.  There are no do-overs, no second-chances, no next-time-arounds to get it right.  Joey knew this and she has made each and every day count. One of the last things Joey said before she drifted into the deep sleep she’s been in for a few days now is, “I have no regrets… I can honestly say, that I have done everything I wanted to do and lived the life I always wanted to live.”

The day she passed away I saw on the news feed that someone wrote, "She has lost her battle with cancer."

For some reason that wording bothers me.

Saying someone lost makes it sound like they didn't fight. 
She was giving all she had to be with her daughter and husband.

Saying it was a battle makes it sound like she signed up for it.
NO one would ever sign up for this kind of "battle".

I read this somewhere -

When I die don’t think you’ve lost me.
I’ll be right there with you, living on in the memories we have made.

When I die don’t say I “fought a battle.” Or “lost a battle.” Or “succumbed.”
Don’t make it sound like I didn’t try hard enough, or have the right attitude, or that I simply gave up.

When I die don’t say I “passed.”
That sounds like I walked by you in the corridor at school.

When I die tell the world what happened.
Plain and simple.
No euphemisms, no flowery language, no metaphors.

Instead, remember me and let my words live on.
Tell stories of something good I did.
Give my children a kind word. Let them know what they meant to me. That I would have stayed forever if I could.

Don’t try to comfort my children by telling them I’m an angel watching over them from heaven or that I’m in a better place:
There is no better place to me than being here with them.
They have learned about grief and they will learn more.
That is part of it all.

When I die someday just tell the truth:
I lived, I loved, I died.
The end.

I am not sure why their story has reached me so deeply.
Maybe because I just hate cancer.
Maybe because she was about my age.
Maybe because she had a young child.
Maybe because she seemed like such an amazing person full of grace, love and faith.


I hope to aspire to be like her.