Cancer has
claimed two of my friends over the last 5 months. Both were very
accomplished career women, deeply spiritual, and with hearts of gold that led
them to serve the less privileged with humility despite the status they
occupied in their professional careers. Several weeks before the first
died, we had the opportunity to thank one another for the quality of friendship
that we had both given each other. We bid one another farewell and
promised that we would see each other in heaven. The last time I received
a call from her, I had no idea that in just 5 days she would make her
transition to eternity.
When my other friend went into the hospital for some tests 2 weeks ago, even she thought that she would shortly return to her normal life, including her employment with the US government and her role in the immigrant support and advocacy organization where she and I were both volunteer board members. She was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer and in just a matter of days, she was gone. Together, we (that is, all of our colleagues in the immigrant support and advocacy organization) believed in social justice and social action. She more than I was totally committed to our cause of helping the least among us - a cause that we have consistently pursued with remarkable success. As I sat at her funeral service tonight (less than 2 days to a new year), many unavoidable thoughts ran through my mind.
