A Cancer Filled Christmas

A Cancer Filled Christmas

Oh Christmas Tree.

Oh Christmas Tree, 

It’s wild… 

to see how much you’ve evolved. 

From the colorful tinsel,

Handmade ornaments and ceramic bulbs.

Serving as an endless time capsule,

With every accessory we hang from a branch. 

You bear the growth, the hardship

and the family we’ve grown to be. 

The years we laughed, 

Years we struggled, 

And the family we’ve slowly, but fiercely, become.

Oh Christmas Tree.

Oh Christmas Tree,

How you continuously 

Mark the perfection in our imperfectious family. 

This year, we put you up early. 

The decision, not out of tradition 

But instead, out of tenderness.

With a future that feels all so uncertain,

All more the reason to focus on this everlooming fear

That’s now become our reality.

Instead, we stay grateful for what we have

Instead of the cards we hold. 

We’re all learning a new “normal.” 

Doctors,

Appointments,

Hard conversations, 

And the quiet acceptance 

That our simple life as we knew it 

Has shifted beneath our feet.

But even now,

In this new landscape,

Your glow reminds us 

That our love for one another doesn’t dim. 

It adapts, softens 

And finds its way through the dark. 

Every moment spent together 

Feels all the more so merry, 

So bright.

Oh Christmas Tree.

Oh Christmas Tree, 

Here's to holding on and showing up

To the strength

And bonds we didn’t ask to be tested.

Most importantly, 

here’s to the hope, 

That we all refuse to lose. 

So…

Fuck Cancer.

And happy holidays to all. 

May the lights burn brighter in the upcoming year,

And may we never take a single second for granted.