When my mom told me that my cousin had cancer throughout his whole body and might not live, I didn’t know how to respond. Although I normally would have cried days upon days, I was on my depression pills and I was still trying to recuperate from loosing my friend in a car accident. The news was almost incomprehensible seeing as the day before I felt as though my cousin was just as healthy as any other thirty-year-old male living a normal life.

My cousin had been having pains that he assumed were minimal and in no way life-threatening. The day he went in, they told him that had he not come in, he would’ve been dead within a matter of weeks if not days. The news was heartbreaking to him as well as all of us, his family. My cousin David lives in Denver, Colorado, while all of us live in Arkansas other than one of his sisters who lives near by.

Things got better and got worse throughout the week that the news was delivered. My aunt and uncle, his parents, left the week of his diagnosis. At one point we were nearly sure that he didn’t have much time left on this earth. His sister and my mom both wanted to go down to be with him as we all did.

Sadly money was an issue unlike it ever should be. It is heartbreaking to have to worry about money in a time like this. I, more then anything wanted to go with them, but I had school to worry about. I hate to say that school even crossed my mind in a moment like this. School, money, work. They should never have to be a deciding factor in the matter of a family member possibly dying.

Distance was the most problematic factor in the situation. Had my cousin been here, we all would have sacrificed time, sleep, and whatever else it would’ve taken to be there to support him. All you want to do is be able to be there with your loved one through it all. In the end, we all turned to prayer, the best type of support out there.

Today my cousin is cancer-free, not completely healed but cancer-free, and I owe this miracle to God for watching over the doctors, guiding their hands, and for helping my cousin stay strong.

Whether it is cancer, a stroke, financial struggles, child abuse, someone being bullied, or any number of struggles that people face from day to day, one thing that everyone wants to contribute is support to those in need.