Feeling Philosophical

It's that time of year for reflection. Another year over and what have you done, to quote John Lennon.

2016 has been one hell of year for any number of reasons.

Firstly I managed to stay alive which is no mean feat.

As some of you are aware I am on a facebook group for secondary breast cancer patients. A lot of my "friends" are wondering if this will be their last Christmas. It's not something that has occurred to me. It could be anyone's last Christmas. Some of them are making memory boxes and books for their children. I am not for two reasons, firstly they would be incredibly tear stained and secondly my children are in their late teens and early twenties so have their memories, I also tell them ad nauseum how much I love them and also they are fully aware of my wit and wisdom on all and every subject.

I also wonder whether we who have been told our horizon is a lot closer than we had initially anticipated are in a better position than the rest of the population. We know our time is limited, we can get our affairs in order, we can appreciate what we have, not that others don't do this. The talk of memory boxes and the like makes me think of Jo Cox, the MP who was murdered, with 2 young children. She had no will and had no time to make memory boxes.

The trouble with being told that your time is very limited is that this fact occupies near every waking moment. This is over and above the joys of dealing with treatment and its side effects. It is very hard to live a "normal" life. At the moment, apart from the overwhelming fatigue, I am actually feeling quite well, I am the epitome of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

I am hoping that 2017 proves to be a better year for all sorts of reasons and presuming that the proverbial bus doesn't get me or you I hope to see many more Christmases.