What Cancer Took from Us

Cancer took things from us first.
Time we thought we still had.
Plans we didn’t even know we’d been counting on.
It chipped away at our days before we understood what was happening.

Then it went after you.
Your energy.
Your strength.
Your ability to live your life without everything turning into a battle.
I watched you fight through things no one should ever have to face, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.

Cancer changed our relationship too.
It turned me into someone who could never let their guard down.
Always watching.
Always worrying.
Trying to hold everything together while falling apart inside.
It forced conversations we never wanted.
It stripped away the ease we once had and replaced it with fear, appointments, and moments that took more from us than we ever admitted.

And then it went after our future.
The years we thought we’d get.
The life we were supposed to still be living.
It took pieces of you long before the end
and pieces of me right along with it.

Cancer sucks.
That’s the truth.
It stole too much from us.
And I’ll never be “okay” with any of it.