The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I will never forget how I was blinded

by the way my wife looked at me as we exchanged our vows—

the way she looked right through me, her gaze

more powerful than anything I had ever known,

like staring at the sun.

“For better or for worse,

through sickness and in health,

through good times and bad times . . .”

That’s what the preacher said.

When my wife married me she got them all:

Worse, sickness, hard times.

There’s been good times, for sure.

More than I deserve.

I have two wonderful daughters, who love me,

two dogs that think I’m the cat’s meow,

(though the cat would beg to differ)

and in-laws who generally think I’m good enough for their daughter

(she deserves better).

I couldn’t ask for more.

(Could you?)

But the past six months of cancer and chemo and uncertainty

have taken their toll on all of us.

What have I learned from it all?

That my wife loves me to the moon,

and I love her to the moon and back

(and then some).

It’s been said in so many ways over so many years,

“Love conquers all.”

I have no doubt that the love in my life conquered everything

that hurled and battered itself against it.

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About the author:

In the fall of 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 2 B-cell, non-specified, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. Over the next six months, I endured six grueling hospitalizations for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. On February 6, 2023, I rang the bell on the Oncology ward. I’m cancer-free. Throughout the ordeal, I wrote poems. I include a handful below to share with your readers. They are original and unpublished.