the rest of us took more than a lifetime to understand

>> I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 when a story about an amazing person came
>>on. It prompted me to google for more info. I found this blog on the website and >>it touched me very deeply. I thought you might be interested in this.


Read Miles story


So touching and inspiring and so damn right. Whatever it is that life taught us, we'll all come to the same conclusion, as Miles so eloquently put it:

- I can only deduce two possibilities about the universe: God's plan is evident in every little shifting of the breeze, or it's totally random. I don't see how there could be much middle ground.

For me, it is totally random - why some get more and better and others less and worse and all this unfairness cant come from an omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient , all caring god. I just cant believe it.

- I remember my first chemo round, staring at the ceiling and trying not to cry. The agony was stunning. I've long since learned to go ahead and cry

There's no law that said crying is a sign of weakness and there's no punishment for crying - only relief. Crying is good. It's healing. It's cleansing. Those who are courageous enough to cry, are the only ones who understand life.

- a visceral understanding that all bad things will pass in time ... but that all good things will too.

Just the other day I told my sister exactly that. Perhaps it is the best thing life can offer to us.

-Unlike many cancer patients, I don't have much anger. The way I see it, we're not entitled to one breath of air. We did nothing to earn it, so whatever we get is bonus. I might be more than a little disappointed with the hand I've been dealt, but this is what it is. Thinking about what it could be is pointless. It ought to be different, that's for sure, but it ain't. A moment spent moping is a moment wasted.

-I don't believe you can ask for any more, but if I could ask for something, it would be to be able to go outside into the glorious spring air, feeling healthy and blissfully clueless as to how lucky I was for it, if only just for an hour.

Cancer taught Miles in a few months what took the rest of us more than a lifetime to understand.

Thanks Laura for the link!