K - Kindness Toward All - A to Z Blogging Challenge

Kathy Ireland - Super Friend!

Kindness is one of the important words that we, as humans, should know. It allows us to see what life could be like if we would let it.

It is over five years since I found the lump on my right breast. I had surgery to remove part of my right breast and some lymph nodes. It has been a rocky five years, after the life-sucking tiredness of radiation and the nauseating chemo-therapy, there still is the overwhelming feeling that the cancer is coming back. I know this is not a good way to think, but sometimes you just cannot control your thoughts.

I try so hard to be positive and be the Professional Encourager that I say that I am, fights this feeling every day. Something about the word "Cancer" just changes your life in ways that people that have not been through it can not understand. For me, it was like hitting a brick wall at full speed. I was fortunate that the cancer was only very minuscule in the lymph nodes. The treatment was supposed to take care of that and I am still on the 5 year regimen of pills that is supposed to keep it from coming back.

Yellow Roses from Kathy Ireland when
I was in the hospital with pneumonia.

After Chemotherapy, I received this beautiful bouquet of two dozen yellow roses from a dear friend of my heart, Kathy Ireland. She was there asking about my progress all the way. You can only imagine the boost these beautiful flowers gave me. It was so kind. She didn't have to do this, but she has a truly kind heart and helps many people this way. 

I think I mentioned this earlier in my blog, but there was a great lady, @QueenMisha, who checked on me every day and was a genuinely kind woman. She really cared. All of a sudden, she disappeared from social media. No one could find her for at least a month. Her daughter contacted some other friends and we found out what had been going on. Misha had been suffering from cervical cancer and had passed away in a Hospice Care facility in Arizona. She had kept her Twitter going for much longer than her family felt that she should, because there were people she loved and cared for. I am so honored that she cared enough for me to encourage me with her kindness through her pain. This is a reminder to me to always be kind to people, because you don't know what they might be going through. Kindness is love.

Soon after that, I met Dabney Porte and she started Social Media Girlfriends. She picked up where Misha left off and has encouraged me with kindness almost every day since. I hope that I am as much of a blessing to her as she has been to me. All the #smgirlfriends have been a blessing. 

Marie Walker Riddle (@livinlime) has been in my stream almost from the beginning. For a while, I didn't know her real name, but the "livinlime" Avatar was a bright spot in my Twitter Stream. Marie has been diagnosed Triple Negative Breast Cancer (click link). This is a very aggressive form of cancer but evidently responds to heavy chemotherapy.

All the #smgirlfriends and her other friends on Twitter have been supporting Marie with encouragement, while she is going through all those awful cancer  things you have to go through. We have been raising money to help supplement her treatment. I understand she is going through chemo before surgery.  She is in our thoughts and prayers each moment we can spare. We love her.

This is just part of what kindness can be. Kindness can be many things: 

• Kindness is praying for someone who is ill and helping them when you can.
• Kindness can be praying for that driver with road rage, instead of becoming enraged yourself.
• Kindness can be caring for a friend's child so they can have a break to do shopping or even take a nap.
• Kindness can be giving that homeless person a few dollars to allow them have a better day, and maybe a meal.
• Kindness is mowing an elderly person's yard when the no longer can.
• Kindness is visiting a person in the hospital.
• Kindness is giving a child you don't know, a toy or clothing at Christmas.
• Kindness is sending a card when someone is ill.
• Kindness is walking in the shoes of the fisherman.
• Kindness is: (your turn)

Link to @Livinlime on BlogTalkRadio with @DabneyPorte

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!