We all overcome things in our lives.  Emotional, physical, tragic, heartbreaking things happen in our lives.  When we hear the term “survivor” we may think of the hit CBS TV Show, we may also think of someone living through a car accident or health problem.

I’ve been through a lot of things that changed my life in drastic ways.  As a junior in high school, my father underwent open heart surgery.  He was 50 at the time.  Six months prior, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  My entire world was upside down. My parents both survived their health issues.  Mom went on to have her cancer reappear 18 months later in the other breast.  My father survived his surgery and at the age of 60 had another heart surgery.  He passed away two weeks after his 70th birthday.

In the nine months before my father’s death, he stopped speaking to me.  My mother would talk with me when I called, but my dad would either hang up or hand the phone to my mom if he was the one to answer the phone.  My father had been, and really still is, one of my heroes.  He accomplished some pretty incredible things in his life and up until he stopped speaking to me, I rarely doubted that he loved me and was proud of me.  I sat, alone in his hospital room, and held his hand when he died.  He had collapsed on the weekend, visiting family in California.  He never regained consciousness.  I don’t know if he knew I was there beside him or not.

There are many things that were left unsaid.  On his end and mine.  It’s been 19 years, and I’m still working through my grief, disappointment, heartache, and anger.  I’m most angry that another person was able to steal the last 9 months of my Dad’s life from me.  That’s time, opportunity for conversations, laughs, hugs, and affirmations that I will never get back.  It didn’t kill me, but it’s been an emotional struggle that’s remained in the back of my mind for nearly two decades.

I’ve learned many things on my journey to survive this heartbreak.

In what way are you a survivor?  Have you had a harrowing experience or injury that left you wondering if you’d survive?  Has there been emotional upset in your life that you’ve had to learn to work through and work past; or are you still working through it?  What things have you learned?

Your post is due Monday, May 7, 2018 at 8:15 a.m.