Breathing a Sigh of Relief (and Thankfulness)

In October, my fellow Health Union advocates and I spent several days together at a conference, and during a breakout session of our SkinCancer.net group, we started talking about our community members and how good it is to share this journey with all of them, mentioning several who regularly comment on articles and provide great interaction for the community.

Health concerns for one of our own

And then it suddenly dawned on me that I had not seen any interaction from one particular member in awhile. A long while, actually. He used to frequently comment on the posts, but I could not remember the last time I had seen him comment. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I felt uneasy. I knew he had a long history with skin cancer and some major procedures throughout that history. But where was he? Was he okay? Had his health taken a turn for the worse? Did something happen to him? None of the other skin cancer advocates recalled seeing anything from him lately, which added to my uneasiness.

Hoping for the best

I continued to moderate the skin cancer site, and each time I was online moderating I was hoping to see that he had commented on a post. That may sound a bit odd to some, but to me, it feels like we are one big extended family in our community. Our community members are special to us. And when one seems to be missing in action, things don’t feel right.

When I tell our community members that we are pulling for them in their battle with skin cancer, it’s not just lip service. When I ask our community members to keep us updated as to how they’re doing, I’m not saying it to just be polite. We genuinely do want to know, and we genuinely do care. I believe we are all caretakers of each other, physically and emotionally.

The sigh of relief

I can happily report that within a couple of weeks after our conference, I saw that particular community member comment on an article, and I was so happy to see this. He is okay. He is still with us. I’m thankful for that, and I am thankful for each and every one of you.

Gratitude for our community

I want to share with you this quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton, which I think is very appropriate:  “When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” I don’t take the privilege I have of interacting with you for granted. I am thankful for all of you, and for the honor of getting to know you through our community.

Be safe, be blessed, and know that you are a blessing.