Cancer is Like Veiled Sunshine

My favorite meteorologist has a running joke with one of the anchormen on television about the use of the words “veiled sunshine.” He thinks it is funny and teases her about it while she laughs and uses the term often.

It is an unusual term. I also chuckle when she says the day will be partly sunny or partly cloudy. Which part? It obviously can’t be at the same time. So is it sunny enough for the neighbors to use the pool, or too rainy for the baseball game?

However, if you really think about it these are very descriptive of not only the weather — but of cancer.

Every one of us has a life with ups and downs, shadows and sunshine, darkness and light — and sometimes all on the same day. I am an emotional person and after a bad day, I try to laugh and be happy when something funny happens. I do not live in a tropical climate like Florida but in Northeast Ohio, which is one of the cloudiest areas of the country. I have the dubious honor of living five miles from an armory that was built before missiles could be directed. The reason – we are so cloudy that the airplanes couldn’t see where to drop the weapons! The counter part of living here is that on sunny days my neighbors and I are all walking, biking, greeting each other and most appreciative of the sun’s rays.

My cancer is ongoing and I have been fighting it for nine years. I have had the bad days when the chemo has overwhelmed me and I have given up hope. Then I have the good days, when it is in temporarily remission and I feel great like sunshine! I think almost every cancer survivor goes through this.

However, it is the veiled sunshine that we really think about. The clouds are covering the sky, but if we peek really hard, we can see the sunshine trying desperately to come through. If one little cloud moves, the whole array of shining rays appears, making us feel good.

This is the reason cancer survivors have hope. We hang on to that little crack of sunshine to keep us going behind the gray and dreary clouds. I feel certain when my journey on earth is finished, I will see the rays of light. I have friends who have had near death experiences and they describe the light and sense of peace vividly.

Cancer and life is much like the weather. We need to keep peeking for the rays of sun and be certain the clouds won’t last forever. Rays of light are important to all of us, and “veiled sunshine” reminds us that hope is always there.