I didn't end up making it home this past weekend because the parents said the weather was pretty bad and there is a lot of drama going on at home. My family was staying out at the lake and the trailer leaked in two locations (one of which is from the skylight dad replaced... go figure). We also have a dog that is nearly 13 that has diabetes which requires two insulin shots a day. Well the dog was sick and making a mess all over the place so with that and the leaking trailer in the constant rain out at a lake where you can't even sit outside to visit, they decided it wouldn't be a good weekend to visit. My aunt Debbie is going though some rough stuff right now; she has some kind of spinal cancer. A few months ago she went in because she was having a lot of back pain and they found some spots. She said they actually told her it was the slowest progressing cancer that was the most treatable she could have gotten and that they had high hopes; hopes so high that they didn't even cancel their trip to Colorado for the 4th of July. Well, while in Colorado she had to go to the emergency room because the pain got so bad and also was sick to her stomach every day they were gone. The week she got back from Colorado they went to Houston to get information and treatment for it. The doctors are now saying that the tumors on her spine doubled in size and that if she had waited another week, they could have created so much pressure that she would have been paralyzed. She started chemo. She was told that all she would have to do is a week of chemo and then wait a while as the chemo was going to shrink the tumors; the tumors didn't shrink. The next step was going to be 10 days of radiation however they then decided that the tumors were too large and too close to major nerves that they couldn't do radiation. She is now on a cocktail of 3 different kinds of chemo waiting for a head specialist to see her today, Monday. Debbie and I aren't super close but we are a lot closer than I really realized. I didn't think this would bother me, I mean, I never went to their house except to fix their computer, the family seemed to not really do a lot with theirs and I don't know, they just always seemed distant..... But I feel it now, that connection, that despair knowing that she is in pain. Her cancer is painful, almost debilitating and then chemo takes everything from you, all your energy. It just looks like she is headed for the worst and I hope it turns around. Please help me in praying for her health and her family as I know they need it during this time. A friend of mine seems to be having a rough time right now, some people problems. I don't know exactly how she takes me as it has been a while since we have been close, but when we were close it was really close and I just hate to think of such a wonderful person going through such tough times. She seems to doubt that good people still exist in this world; I know what she means at times I guess, I mean sometimes it seems like your world come crashing down, but I want to urge her to look toward the future. You never know what is just around the corner and never know who will fall in love with you at a glance. She has so very much to look forward to, so many beautiful things in her life and such a vast array of friends that she can't possibly think the good people she once saw don't exist any longer. I want to reach out and tell her I am still here, that I care for her yet all I do is write about her hoping that she reads this and understands. I said I would care about her forever and I won't take that back, she is a great person and sometimes forever isn't even enough when it comes to friendship. I just want everyone to know, to think about this for a second, think about someone they love that they haven't talked to recently, someone they care about that might have gotten a bit distant in the past few months or years. I want you to understand that it is always a good idea to hold those people close, those friends that you can't afford to lose, the ones that might have once driven you crazy, the one that might not be around forever. You know the person in your life that I am talking about, let them know you love them, let them know you are thinking about them. Life isn't forever, not every day is given to each and every one of us. My aunt might not see another year, any of us could be in the same boat, I guess I want.... I guess I want to tell her I am sorry for being so self absorbed that I couldn't have spent more time with her previously, that I had never had negative feelings toward her and that I care for her and I hope she gets better.... I can't be there for her now, I am so far away but through my family she knows I care. Don't let it wait, don't let it get away from you, let the ones you love know you love them for you never know when tomorrow won't come. "Last night I had a crazy dream, a wish was granted just for me, It could be for anything. I didn't ask for money or a mansion in Malibu, I simply wished for one more day with you." Sometimes we don't get what we wish for, so make the best of every day given, don't take that friendship for granted. Aaron