A Wife’s Inspirational Journey

I went with my wife to the Old Country Buffet to eat a couple of years ago. While I was eating, I saw a woman quietly sitting at a corner of the restaurant alone. She appeared to be overwhelmed with great sadness. I believed she most have seen me before I saw her. On a careful look, suddenly, I realized she was the wife of my friend. I did not know why she was in such a subdued sadness. I could see concealed fear and sadness on her face even though she was trying hard to conceal her face from me. In many of these situations when I see people trying to avoid me, I do my best to just leave them alone. However, this was not the one I should have left alone. I should have gone to talk to her to ask how she was doing. I did not approach her, perhaps I was afraid myself not knowing what she would tell me or how she would react to my approach towards her.

After I finished by food, my wife and I left the restaurant walking a little distance from her table while she sat alone, as we approached the exit door. I left without saying anything to her. Within me, I did not feel comfortable as if something was going on with this woman and I was unable to reach her. A couple of months later, I received a shocking phone call that she just died of breast cancer. I started to kick myself for not approaching her the last time I saw her at the restaurant regardless to how she might be avoiding me, or anybody. I did not have an idea when I saw her that she was actually dying. She had received a bad news from her doctor and that was the reason why she was alone, afraid, dejected and subdued in despair. How I wished I had approached her that evening to talk to her before her passing. But, I was not sure what she was battling let alone aware that she was dying of breast cancer.

For somebody who had worked in healthcare for over 40 years, I have learned that breast cancer can be very aggressive in black women. I did not know how long she had been fighting the disease, but the last time I saw her alone in sadness, and the time I received the phone call about her death was just too short.

She was a very attractive woman, but her life was cut short due to breast cancer. She must have been in her late fifties or very early sixties. I have lost three beautiful souls to breast cancer.

The story of the death of my friend’s wife from breast cancer created another twist as a motivating factor to writing this book, Finding Peace in the Storms – A Wife’s Inspirational Journey with Breast Cancer. This is a story of faith over fear. The book narrates the story of two black women who help each other carry emotional burden. Lisa Anderson is the wife of a rich man in the Chicago suburb. She is afflicted with breast cancer. Her friend Susan Henshaw determined to walk her friend through this painful challenges of life as Lisa battles the fear of chronic illness.

Continue with the story of other factors why I wrote this book

By Yinka Vidal, author, Finding Peace in the Storms – A Wife's Inspirational Journey.

Available as Ebook at Amazon, 245 pages, $8.99.

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