For the past couple of years, I have been following two very different blogs. Different in that one focuses on a young woman (a mother and wife) and her husband who were badly burned in an airplane accident. The other focuses on a 50+ year old man who serves as a deacon at a local church and has been suffering from cancer. Each writer writes in detail about their daily struggle. One describes the joys of raising 5 young children, the last of whom was born 3 years after the accident. The other describes the day-to-day realities of battling what appears to be a terminal and virulent form of cancer.
Each day I check in and see how they are doing. Is the chemo working? Has he been able to go back to work? What about his position as a deacon?
And what of the young mother. How are the children doing? Is the baby thriving? Is she happy to have survived but to being struggling with the stares of strangers and the future of many more surgeries?
It's a strange thing, but both blogs are the same in that both people are dealing with what must seem at times impossible situations. Ironically enough, both are incredibly hopeful people and it is rare to read complaints from either one.
Why then do I care? I can't answer that question. I guess it's a little like reading a soap opera. There's no sex and definitely no violence. What there is is a lot of hope and strength. It's amazing how strong these folks are. It is also amazing how each one continues on with the day-to-day routines of their lives. They take care of others. They enjoy new food. They react to the stories of the day. But perhaps they cannot share the deep emotions that they share online with those around them. I suspect it is a good outlet for them.
Maybe sometimes I need a little of their hope and strength. Thankfully, I am not dealing with anything even remotely close to what they are handling. But it doesn't hurt to see how others are living and struggling. That sounds very selfish, but it is not meant to. Perhaps I'm just nosey (I know that to be a fact). Perhaps there's just a need to know how others handle adversity.
Their humanness is raw. One can feel their abject pain and joy. Their lives go on while they struggle each day with their own mortality. Something that each one of us does each day
