Lost And Found In My Own Backyard

[MartyT]

Dear Ones,

This post by my friend and colleague Elaine Mansfield just took my breath away, and I want to share it with everyone here:

Lost and Found in My Own Backyard

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Elaine Mansfield

I met Robin Botie in the oncology ward kitchen at Strong Hospital in Rochester in 2008. We leaned our weary bodies against Formica counters and whispered our sad tales while warming food in the microwave for the ones we hoped to save. I loved Robin’s thick brown hair and warm sorrowful eyes. I learned that she lived close to my home in the Finger Lakes.We shared this horrifying world of cancer, but my husband Vic was 67 and had lived a fortunate life. Robin’s daughter Marika was 18 and every cancer treatment threw her body into crisis. If Vic’s lymphoma felt unfair, Marika’s put my world into perspective.After Vic died, I lost touch with Robin, but a year and a half ago, a friend sent me Marika’s obituary. Then, I heard that Robin was writing a book about her experience. We met in bereavement groups, joined the same memoir writing group, and both signed on with Jill Swenson of Swenson Book Development. Moved by Robin’s powerful writing and our shared experience, I invited her for a walk in my woods . . . Read on here.