By Lois Hewitt

Homemade muffins from a couple I met twice.

Several places to recuperate offered by people who don’t know me that well.

Prayers from churches and people I have never met and from many I have.

Offers of help from so many people in so many different places.

Doctors and nurses who took the best care of me.

Texts and cards full of get well wishes.

I am overwhelmed at the absolute outpouring of love I have felt.  Deserving, I am NOT!  Appreciative, I certainly AM!

This world is a funny place.  It’s scary and unpredictable as it continues to spiral out of control.  But then humanity takes center stage and the chaos starts to melt away.  Replaced by love and kindness.

I swore my writings would not become cancer-centric but unfortunately, that has become the context from which I now write.

A month since the diagnosis and three weeks since the hurricane and I have been covered in love.

From people I do not know, people I met once or twice, friends, family, co-workers past and present, school friends and so many more.

How did I get so blessed?  I was going to say lucky but luck has nothing to do with it.

I easily lose faith in mankind.  My heart breaks easily when I see injustice. It can cover me if I let it.  And, in truth, sometimes I let it. 

Then something happens in life that grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you out of it.  And you realize the images on a screen or printed on a page are not the only images today.

I look around at the neighborhoods totally destroyed and I see people being fed, clothed and cared for.

I see people opening their arms with provisions as well as a much needed hug of reassurance.

I read about the bad news. I hear the division in people.  I witness hurt.  But that’s not the entire story.

We do care for each other.  We feel empathy and compassion.  We all want to help.  That is the true human condition.  We all just forget that sometimes.

I am in awe at what is happening all around me.  Many like me, still shell-shocked but others jumping into action. It lifts my soul.

Today is another day of not doing anything but healing.  I would love to say, especially in light of everything else, that I hate this forced shutdown but the reality is that it is yet another blessing.

Much needed time to not only heal the body but the soul as well.  This has been a gift from God.  Not a gift like a pretty watch or something tangible.  But a gift of people who have touched my soul. Who have taught me lessons about compassion and true kindness.

I cannot see me being the same person ever again.  I have learned so much about the human condition. Things I was blind to before. Things I would never have seen, had I not started living through it.

Adversity is a tough taskmaster.  The pain serves as the tests that allow you to fall behind or move forward.  Good times don’t allow of hard truths and lessons learned. It truly is the heat on our feet that brings out the truth of who we are.

God has opened my eyes, toned down my ego, and shown me what true, unbridled humanity looks like.  I’m so blessed to have had this time to be on the sidelines and see humanity make the touchdown.

Going forward I will see life differently. My heart has been forever changed by the love I feel.  God allowed these people into my life to teach me lessons I could never have learned in my life.

Today I am changed. Today I am loved.  Today I will love more.  Blessed I am!