We were watching one of those vet shows. The black lab with the thief in his bones. The bunny with the thief in his toes. One long journey to an inevitable end. One hopeful.
Both halt the world on its axis.
The bunny lost a leg, thus losing the thief. The lab lost a leg, but the thief, unknowingly to his owner, disguised himself and traveled to other parts. Doesn’t matter the species.
The thief transcends.
There’s a section of my heart that is owned by the thief. Some of the people in that section there are shining bright spirits. It’s sad to say I have to sit and think about who is there. There’s too many.
There are three people on the fringe of that section. They have a slight sheen to them. The thief has visited and much like the black lab and bunny, lost a part of themselves, thus losing the thief.
But.
He sticks around. He’s like super fine craft glitter. You think you’ve got it all cleaned up and just when you put away the lint roller, broom, and vacuum cleaner, you spot some sparkle left behind. You sigh, and begin the battle again.
We deal with the thief and we go about our days. Experiencing life and loving it. Grateful for each day, week, month, and year we can tack on. Even going the distance in forgetting he’s been around.
But every ache, every tinge, every pang, every “this doesn’t seem right, we should check it out” brings with it a heart shattering fear. It makes that sheen start to glow a little brighter. It’s that tiny speck of sparkle that stops the world on its axis.
We sigh. We don’t want to battle again.
We sigh. We will begin to battle again if we need to.
It’s what we do.
But I still hope with all my hopes we don’t have to.
Live, Love, Teach 
So true. We fight the thief so aggressively when it comes out of hiding. When we know the possibility lurks, we fight instead by holding on to every small precious moment. Never give the thief the joy you can claim or the contentment of living ordinary days. And most of us have at least one shining spirit we keep in our hearts always. But the thief is so ruthless, many of us, like you, have more. And we wil not give up the fight.
Ugh- so sweet and so sad! I never thought of cancer as a thief, but you are exactly right. Really powerful slice.
I have never thought of cancer as a thief before either, but yes, you expressed it all so well. I have lost too many loved ones to cancer, and look forward to the day when we can totally eliminate that thief…forever! ~JudyK
I, too, live with the thief. I’m a three-year cancer survivor of a 4th stage cancer. I do look over my shoulder now and then just to see if he/she is lurking. I try to really appreciate each day I’m alive, but deep, deep down I will never feel safe again.
Barbara, that’s amazing. You’re a fighter with the very best of company. Survivors are amazing.
Kim, I have so much I want to say, but don’t even know where to begin. So let me just say this. You have an amazing way of bringing your words to life, and this slice is no exception. If I had a magic wand the thief would be destroyed forever and you’d never have to worry about fighting that battle again. ❤
Magic wands would be amazing. If I had a superpower it would be to banish the thief from all living things.
This comes at a time when the thief just stole another in my life near and dear to me. I hate that thief. He’s an asshole.
Yes, yes he is. Asshole supreme.
I saw a slice about your guy I think. He was a tremendous person. Hugs to you and yours.
It was probably Brittany’s slice. Do you follow her? She wrote about him. I just can’t. She had all the words I seem to have lost.
Yep. That’s the one. You have the words- they’ve just decided to stay with you in your feelings right now.
I read your slice earlier this morning and it’s been on my mind ALL day. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s amazing to come back so many hours later and see how many people you have touched with your words. It’s both beautiful and sad – so many can relate to what you’ve expressed. It is true – your paragraph about the aches and pains and the fear of every little thing we feel is the dreaded thief coming back. That is so unbelievably difficult to live with – but – BUT we concentrate more on being grateful for every day and even going the distance forgetting he’s been around. That does happen sometimes, too. Thank you for this slice. It was so touching – and so haunting…