The Day That Changed Everything

My Nana has cancer. Stage IV cancer, actually. It has been impossibly difficult to type that sentence. 

Stage IV. Our family tried to lessen the severity of our reality by joking that it would take such an advanced  cancer to dim the light of my feisty, larger-than-life grandmother. 

She told me about her cancer on June 11th. I had stayed home sick from work, but had a client meeting in NYC the next day so was walking to the pharmacy when I called her. I heard the sorrow in her voice when she picked up the phone. 

She never actually referred to it as “cancer,” and used so many other medical terms that I had to piece together what she was telling me. I don’t remember the end of our conversation. I honestly think I sort of blacked out on the quiet street of my neighborhood. I only snapped out of it when I noticed the evening sun shining into my eyes. I still had my phone in my hand and for whatever reason, I took this picture. I’m not sure why I felt I needed a picture to remember the moment. 

Truth be told, I can see this view when I close my eyes. It was the moment everything changed for me...for us. 

I have a feeling that I’ll write a lot in the upcoming months. I’m not sure how much I’ll share, but we’ll see.