The Best Things: Unexpected Inspiration

A friend of mine from work lost her fourteen year old granddaughter, Bekah, to cancer this week. While some of you might know the story, others of you might not have heard it.

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about the medical side of things for two reasons. First, I don't know much about it and second, that's not the most important part of this story.

When Bekah found out that the prognosis wasn't good, she made a list of things that she wanted to accomplish before it was her time. A young lady who just learned that she wasn't going to be able to experience a lot of milestones in her life and she made goals that she wanted to meet. She wasn't willing to sit back and watch her life waste away. She wanted to do things, experience things, and live while she was alive. At a time when many people would be feeling sorry for themselves and hiding away from the world, Bekah allowed her family to post about her life on pages on Facebook, inspiring more people than they probably ever thought possible. She drove a truck and rode a horse. She helped increase awareness about ovarian cancer so others might not have to go through what she and her family were going through.

Bekah's influence has been wide spread. I have seen many people who I know separate from my friend who have been supporting Bekah and helping her meet her goals. While I was Christmas shopping yesterday, I saw someone wearing a Battle for Bekah t-shirt. People, like me, who never actually met her have gained so much perspective and inspiration from her. It is truly amazing what this young lady accomplished in her short lifetime.

As Bekah was going through her fight with cancer and I was reading about her struggles, I started thinking about my blog and whether or not I should keep doing this. It somehow felt like it wasn't as important as I originally thought. After all, they were going through this huge struggle and it almost felt like gloating. But then I thought about it some more. One of the things that was most moving for me was reading Bekah's mom's posts to the Facebook page, sharing her thoughts, feeling, frustrations, difficulties, struggles, and triumphs. Reading about what Bekah was accomplishing and how the family was coming together to support each other was incredibly inspiring to me. It made me want to be stronger and to do more.

Now my blog and Facebook updates are very different than their entries and I won't even try to compare them because I don't want to take anything away from Bekah and her mom. However, if they can inspire me by being honest and open, maybe I can have the same effect on someone else. Maybe all of my posting about my journey and struggles and triumphs can, on a different level, have a positive effect on someone else. So I'm going to keep going strong with my blogging and keep in mind a beautiful, strong young lady who did amazing things in horrible circumstances.

With her inspiration, I will continue forward on my journey wearing a teal bracelet as a daily reminder to be strong, keep fighting, and treasure daily those who matter the most.

RIP Bekah. Heaven is a brighter place with you among its numbers.