When Time Is Not On Your Side

A big part of dealing with an incurable illness is a sense of grief and an acute sense of shortened longevity.

One may argue that people die every day so no one has a guarantee in life. Fair enough!

But do you not save for retirement? Maybe not, since nothing is guaranteed, maybe spend it up, live a little? stop planning for the future?

Take each day one by one but not plan any savings.

Give up long-term dreams of travel because there is nothing certain.

Do you not think about seeing your children grow up or that is something that doesn’t matter?

Do you not dream of working and then retiring and relocating to a place of your dreams?

Do you not wish to see your kids graduate, married, and have grandkids?

Do you not want to be there when they need you as they get older?

Being there every step of the way for your spouse?

We all plan these things. That is part of life.

In that context even a 15-year survival ( the number I hear a lot) is still a huge adjustment, is it not?

I am thankful for each day, but it’s an adjustment to my new reality. A grief process, not lack of hope, not negativity.

– Uzma Yunus, Facebook post, March 17, 2016

[To read my approach to publishing her Uzma’s unpublished work and her posts on social media, read this. Featured photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash]