{"id":3660,"date":"2016-08-31T11:45:14","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T15:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=3660"},"modified":"2016-08-31T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T15:45:14","slug":"my-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/my-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"My Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christmas<\/a>Let me tell you about one of the best gifts I ever received. Picture it. It\u2019s not too large. About the size of a golf ball. It was amazing. As soon as it arrived, it began pulling my whole family together like never before. I felt so loved and appreciated. I was able to recalibrate what\u2019s really important in my life and it redefined my sense of spirituality.\u00a0 It even came with a coupon for an eight-week vacation with nothing to do \u2013 just accept flowers from all my family and friends to go with all their good wishes.\u00a0 You\u2019re probably wondering how you can get it. Is it on Amazon? Is there a waiting list? The cost: $55,000. I\u2019m not sure you would want it but, as for me, I wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything.\u00a0 It\u2019s name? Cancer.<\/p>\n

It began with some strange symptoms: extreme itching, strong pain when swallowing any alcoholic beverage, night perspiration and a dry, discomfiting cough. Weird. I was only 28. My conversation at that age was not supposed to center around how I was feeling but I couldn\u2019t help it. I felt like an advanced hypochondriac. When my friends saw I was about to start up again, they went into \u2018nursing home visit\u2019 mode, admiring my stylish cane and the like.<\/p>\n

I was an aspiring medical student. Yet I didn\u2019t think of these symptoms as being serious. Just weird. Then came the golf ball. It appeared in my neck. A large lump.\u00a0 A large lump of Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma, stage 2. The first moment was one of relief. I was not a hypochondriac, after all.\u00a0 On its heels came the realization that I had cancer. CANCER! I was 28 and I may never see 30.<\/p>\n

Helpless. That\u2018s the word that described my initial thoughts. I had thought I was in control of my life. I made the decisions. Didn\u2019t I? Now I felt like an unseen hand had reached out and was pulling me along a path I had not chosen. But the Hand was gentle.\u00a0 And it was leading me along a rich, rewarding path. I let it lead me. And I began enjoying the scenery. Those same teasing friends and relatives became so solicitous. They really cared. I felt so loved. So cherished. The Hand forced me to re-evaluate my life. The trivial fell by the wayside, now recognized as foolish drivel while the previously taken- for- granted aspects of life became front and center. Spirituality elucidated every moment. Now, when death became a reality, for the first time ironically, I felt really alive.<\/p>\n

Relating to other people underwent a drastic change. At social get-togethers, I sat there encased in an aura of tragedy which blocked normal conversation like the figurative Iron curtain of the former USSR. My situation affected my friends\u2019 lives, forcing them also to re-evaluate.\u00a0 Then came the advice.\u00a0\u00a0 I knew it all came from a place of real caring.\u00a0 Some of it, though, was strange. But being the subject of Hafrashat Challa events made me feel good. Safe. Protected. And there were many of those.<\/p>\n

I met some wonderful people from Ezer Mizion who offered help from every angle. There were the rides to and from the clinic with drivers who bent over backwards to make things easy and pleasant for me. And there were those sympathetic Ezer Mizion volunteers who brought meals and snacks to whoever was staying with me during my hospital stays. Professional therapy, fun trips that brought some sunshine into my life, even a summer vacation from scary thoughts at Ezer Mizion\u2019s Summer Camp for Cancer Patients and their Families were all part of the Ezer Mizion package.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m ok now. But I\u2019ll never be the same. If you asked me now whether I would have wanted this gift, my answer is a most definite yes. Next time something hits you unexpectedly. Something you didn\u2019t want and feel you\u2019d like to push away. Stop and think. It may just be a gift.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me tell you about one of the best gifts I ever received. Picture it. It\u2019s not too large. About […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-3660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer-support-division","tag-cancer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3661,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3660\/revisions\/3661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}