Don’t toss your jewel away

Yesterday a woman tied a weighted bag to her body and jumped in the bay. She had kids and a loving husband.

Now before I go any further I should say she apparently was bipolar. This, of course, contributed to her suicide and I don’t mean to ignore the difficulties people with the disease go through.

But it hits me how sad it is that someone would throw her life away when so many others are fighting to save theirs. My readers have leukemia. Some, like myself, are doing alright but many others are fighting the fear, anguish, and, yes, depression that comes with battling any cancer.

And it’s not just us. Think of the millions with heart disease, emphysema, breast cancer, lung cancer, and a myriad of other potentially terminal diseases.

I mean, she needed therapy and medications for sure, but she wasn’t having chemo or radiation therapy. Her hair wasn’t falling out. Her body wasn’t losing it’s ability to fight off infections. She didn’t have a tumor in her lungs, or a withering valve in her heart.

Her body was healthy.

There is something terribly wrong and very selfish about suicide. Sure, her pain is gone. But what about her husband, children, family, friends? Now they have to carry the burden of their loss.

I’m told they tried to keep her safe and even kept the car keys away from her. But she rummaged around, found a spare key, and drove off with the express purpose of drowning herself.

If I sound a little torqued off, I am. Life is a precious privilege; an invaluable jewel we are given to protect. But she tossed this jewel in 60 feet of saltwater as if it were worthless costume jewelry that you wear one day and throw away the next.

If any of you are considering a similar fate please, please rethink. Get help. Surround yourself with family and friends. Look into their eyes and imagine what you would be doing to them.

Fight Leuk. Fight him. Do not give in. Have hope in your recovery and if it looks like recovery is not going to happen, savor your days with your loved ones. Glory in every gleaming facet of the jewel you’ve been given. Don’t do Leuk’s work for him. Resolve to beat him or die trying.

When someone dies, people say ‘he lost his battle with cancer’. But I don’t believe that. You only lose when you stop trying; when you give up hope. You only really lose if you say ‘To hell with everyone else’ and take that precious jewel of yours and jump in the bay.

Take care you guys.