Skip to main content

A Truly Beautiful Valentine

Yesterday was the best Valentine's Day! I didn't get roses or a kiss from a special someone. Heck - there isn't even a special someone at all! But yesterday I saw first-hand what Valentine's Day, and love, are truly about.

An amazing friend of mine has stood by her boyfriend's side for the last year and a half as he has battled cancer. Their story wasn't supposed to play out like this. They fell in love. They were supposed to get married and live happily ever after with beautiful fat babies. Right? Isn't that how a love story is supposed to go?

But that's not how their story went. He got cancer. And their story changed forever. Instead of planning a wedding and savoring the giddy moments of a growing love, she gave up her entire life to be by his side every step of the way. She has slept on hospital beds for weeks during his chemo treatments. She has organized fundraiser after fundraiser, sold her car and given up everything of monetary value to raise money for the bone marrow transplant he needed to save his life but insurance refused to cover. Words cannot even begin to express the level of sacrifice, loyalty and love she has shown.

And yesterday, I went to her house at 9:35 at night. I found her in sweats and a hat, cleaning her house. She had been cleaning for hours and hours - disinfecting every inch and preparing for today. Today he will be released from the hospital. He is completely immunocompromised after an intense 3 weeks in the hospital for a full bone marrow transplant. And for the next 100 days, he will be staying in the spare bedroom of her Mom's house so she can continue to be by his side and help him through his recovery.

I hope and pray that some day their story will yet hold a magnificent wedding, beautiful fat babies and days of bliss. I hope future Valentine's Days will bring roses, fancy dinners and romantic get aways for them. But today, Valentine's Day looks like disinfectants, vacuum cleaners and washrags. Today, true love looks like sweats and a baseball cap.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

Comments

Dave Cebrowski said…
Very nice story. Give your friend a hug. People often focus only on the patient, and not realize that the caregiver, spouse, girlfriend, etc is under as much stress, and at the very least, emotional pain, as the patient. They need our prayers too; prayers for strength, peace, patience, courage.
February 16, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Baby Sister said…
That is such a beautiful story!! I hope it turns out well for them as well.
March 5, 2012 at 9:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The First Two Weeks

Monday: I love school. Tuesday: Just hang in there, it will be worth it in the end. Wednesday: I don't love school anymore. Thursday: I must be crazy to be doing this. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die. Find a happy place. Move to happy place and forget school. Friday: Ooh - it's Friday! No classes. That's a happy place. Sunday: Last week wasn't SO bad. I can do this. I love school. Yep. That about sums it up.
3 comments
Read more

Suprise! I'm Getting Married!

Stories are great. And everyone seems especially interested in this one. So, here it is. We were supposed to go to the gym Tuesday for lunch. But I got a text 20 minutes before he showed up saying he wanted to talk instead. Immediately my stomach sunk. I just knew he was going to break up with me or something horrible like that. Well, he picked me up and we started driving - I had no idea where we were going until we turned up the road by the Timpanogos temple. Then I thought - 'There are only two reasons we would be going to the temple. 1) He is going to propose or 2) He is going to break up with me and knows I can't kill him if he does it on temple grounds.' I'm morbid - I know. We got out and sat on the grass and I had to remind him he wanted to talk. He was like, 'Oh yeah. I almost forgot.' Nerd. So he started talking about our first date and the first time he knew he wanted to be with me and the things he loved about me. Then he started talking about ho...
8 comments
Read more

Our Once Upon A Time

I should probably feel guilty that my blog has gone sappy...but...what can I say. Love is in the air? Well, our story is certainly a tale as old as time ... our story starts - guess where? - the singles ward! I know, I know. I said I would never be one of those people who met their future spouse in the singles ward. It always seemed a little cheesy. But...The Lord has a sense of humor. Anyway, we met in February and became casual friends. I thought he was super cool - but when we first met I was doing full-time school and work so I honestly wasn't interested in a relationship. Luckily, or sadly...the poor guy thought I was interested in someone else so he never asked me out. Fast forward a couple of months. This is where we had a little Divine Intervention...It was my Mom's birthday. Uncharacteristically, a friend and I decided to kidnap her for a girls night and go to dinner. As we were sitting there eating some super tasty food - in walked Placido. I thought, 'Hey, I...
4 comments
Read more