Nothing is more certain than death — so why does the approach of death always surprise me?
People die of cancer every day. The disease is so common that most of us don’t even think much about it. I certainly don’t. Even though I had breast cancer more than 10 years ago, I still don’t think about getting cancer and dying from it. And I don’t think about it happening to my friends.
I have a friend who had a routine cancer screening — a lung scan — about a year ago. He was a smoker, so it was supposed to give an early warning if there was anything wrong.
The scan showed what could be a couple of small tumors on his lung. After a biopsy confirmed it was cancer, those two small nodules were removed through surgery. Then he went through months of chemotherapy. And now he’s had another scan to see whether it worked.
He found out this evening that the cancer has metastasized — to his lymph nodes and his liver. And now that I fear death might be coming for him, I don’t know what to feel. In the end, nobody cheats death.
Law profs: the Constitution means whatever we say it means
Trying to force others to be like us destroys loving relationships
Ayn Rand spins in her grave? ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is a bad film
Shouldn’t standards be higher for those trusted to enforce our laws?
Is Big Brother taking over your refrigerator and other appliances?
Understanding often matters more than solving someone’s problems
Listening to our own inner voice can be the toughest thing we do
Theocracy? Secular liberty? Something else? Why not all of ’em?
We never get enough of whatever lets us feel safe being ourselves