Our Third Year-Strength

Our Third Year of Marriage, was something you would never ever want to imagine. Bret was diagnosed with Cancer on November 18, 2003. This was also the year when I lost my best friend, and my aunt. It was a challenging year to say the least. We heard the statistics, and knew that we were going to beat them. We had a fantastic doctor in Dr. Cartmell, and had faith in him, and the fantastic nurses that we were blessed with. We had to learn to develop strength together, and with some great spiritual forces. It has been said of cancer, that it can either tear a relationship apart, or make it so strong that it will never break. We were determined to allow the latter to happen. We heard the statistics, and were determined to not allow our marriage, or life become a number. We knew we would beat the odds on both counts. It was not easy that’s for sure. We had been married for 3 years, and were dealt a blow to a healthy 25 year old man. A childhood cancer, we laughed a lot about that, Bret has always been a little child like. We decided that November day, and for the many days, months and years after that, we would allow this diagnosis to merely be a setback on our journey. We would battle through it, and come out gracefully on the other side. Now, on the road, there was not a whole lot of grace- lack of sleep, a ton of medicine, and crazy hospital stays will challenge any normally sane person, but we did it. We look back now, and wonder how. I vividly recall many nights driving home from the hospital, and getting off the freeway, not quite sure how I got there. I was working from 6:00 a.m.-1:00 and then to the hospital, and then home at 11:00 p.m. and then up in the morning to start again. But, there were times in the hospital, when I would climb in that bed next to Bret, and we would get to talk, and share moments together that were just amazing. We were grateful as we developed the strength that we were eternally blessed, at one point, Bret’s name was on ten different temple prayer rolls, and we are ever grateful for that blessing; we know that because of our temple covenants, we were blessed, and continually being watched over, as we were strengthened continually by that knowledge and blessing.

We are truly grateful for the strength that he had to heal, and the strength that we have used over the last ten years of our marriage to continue to grow. Our strength has been tested many, many times over the last ten years, but each time, it adds another notch in our growing “strength belt”.

I am grateful that through trials, and tribulations, in life, in marriage, and anything else we may go through, we are strengthened.

________________________________________________

Day Three- A reminder of Strength, as he continues to grow stronger.