We’d been besties since college. Now she needed me more than ever
I wanted to scream. right there in the middle of the mail store. I’d been guaranteed nextday delivery of my package. By 10:30 a.m. even. But here I was, 24 hours later, and the package I’d expressed was undelivered and unaccounted for. Unbelievable.
I tapped my foot and glared at the long line of people in front of me, many holding Christmas presents. I wasn’t much in the spirit of the season.
The package—a key to the vacation house my parents owned in Houston— had been meant for my friend Jen, who lived in Dallas. I lived in San Antonio. Jen and I had been besties ever since our freshman year at Texas A&M, some 20 years earlier. Tall, blonde and striking, Jen was amazing—a force of nature. Back then, she’d talked me into going to Bible study, where I met my husband. I’d never known any person who had a faith as strong as hers.
That’s why when, just shy of 40, she’d told me she had breast cancer, I was certain she’d beat it. Only months earlier, she’d given birth to her first child, a son. She’d been nursing him when she felt the lump. She’d done the treatments exactly as her doctors advised: lumpectomy, chemo, radiation. We’d all prayed for her. Almost a year from the date of her diagnosis, in August 2014, she’d gotten the all-clear. A miracle. Or so we believed.
Four months later, the first week of December, I was Christmas shopping when I got a text in the gift wrap aisle of Target. Jen’s cancer was back. The news took the breath right out of me.
Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Guideposts.
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Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Guideposts.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
In the Everyday
Cooking, cleaning, breaking up the kids’ fights... If only I had a few minutes for myself!
Worst-Case Scenario?
I’d had nagging injuries before and always recovered. Why wasn’t I confident that I would get better this time?
Honor Thy Son
I was a Marine officer, a lifer—or so I thought. Then came Patrick
Keeping It Real
In an age of social media, we're experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. Two friends who met online tell you how to grow an authentic connection
What You Wish For
She never wanted to see her abusive father again
God's Pillow
In 2016, the Soberanes Fire in Northern California was the costliest ever in the United States. It almost cost me my life, despite the promise I made to my wife
"I Heard You Praying"
As a hospital chaplain, I had seen hopeless cases. But never one more seemingly hopeless than this
"I Love You, Dad!"
Some of your favorite GUIDEPOSTS writers share what they learned from their fathers
Harold and Me
They’re nearly all gone now, the generation we call The Greatest.” This woman’s mission was to honor one of them
The Race Before Her
For this Olympic champion, success bred her greatest fear. How five verses set her free