American Heritage Dictionaries defines life as the interval of time between life and death. I believe there is a stronger meaning to life than that. How long or how short we live our lives should not determine who we are. How we live our life and what we spend doing it determines our character and our mystique. Many people in this world do not see life the way I do.
September 11, 2002. My 12-year-old brother Daniel “Danny” Wildes was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, bone cancer. Dictionaries define cancer with a lot of biological and scientific terms that an average person cannot comprehend. My definition of cancer is a disease that can tear a family apart piece by piece and in the end have no mercy for the ones it leaves in it’s destructive path. Danny’s diagnosis was an abrupt beginning to a very long road.
Danny went through various treatments. My parents would do anything and spend any amount of money to make sure my brother lived. There was not much I could do to help my brother except get him to smile or laugh. Some say that happiness can cure any sickness. Cancer is not a sickness it’s a plague. I watched my brother suffer for ten months. June 8, 2003. My 13-year-old brother Daniel Wildes died. Then I became sick. Sick with despair and sadness. The only happiness that cured my sickness was knowing that my brother was not suffering anymore.
Corita Kent once said, “Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.” Out of every sad and dark moment, comes a moment of goodness and clarity. This moment of goodness and clarity was Corita Kent’s idea of a flower. Out of the death of my brother I learned that life cannot be taken for granted. Life is only lived once and therefore we should embrace every moment. Live life as though it will end tomorrow. Expect the unexpected.
When my parents were taking the trips with Danny to and from...