three years ago today

Life stopped on a dime.

Becky had cancer. The diagnosis came completely out of the blue. She had stopped by the doctor's office for her annual exam and to get referred to an allergist because she had a cough that lasted a long time.

Just a couple weeks before we had her 30th birthday party. Faculty members and their families came over for a barbecue, and we had a blast. It looked like life would be just like this for many years to come.

We had never before considered cancer; we had really never before considered death. Fortunately, we had been responsible, had good health and life insurance. I cannot imagine how much more difficult my life would be without the insurance money. But as a real possibility, these things had never occurred to us. Especially for Becky, who seemed to be in perfect health. When she was pregnant, she decided she needed to live healthier than she had been, so she gave up caffeine, which meant her weekly Dr. Pepper.

And then our lives were about nothing but cancer and then my life was about nothing but death and its aftermath.

The fifteen months she had cancer were certainly the most meaningful time we had together and included so many of the happiest moments of our lives.

Life changed forever on January 24, 2003.