Cracks of My Heart

Cracks of My Heart

If you trace my heart, you’ll find a maze of cracks. These cracks have different sizes, some are deep, others shallow, and all have their own shapes. The one thing they all have in common is that each one remembers someone who either were diagnosed with cancer, fought the savagery of cancer, or passed from this world from it. These cracks have withstood the weight of time and show the exacting toll from seeing others engage this beast called cancer. These cracks also live and breathe by slowly healing as they shrink upon hearing our father’s cancer is in remission or when a good friend cries out their treatment is over. The cracks of our heart heal when our child who faces removal of a tumor thru surgery shows us they are not afraid and for us not to worry.

But what happens if one of these cracks grows until it breaks our heart after losing a family member to cancer? Broken hearts are not repaired by brick or mortar or by cranes or blueprints. Broken hearts have a hard time growing when a friend says their too busy to come over or when family members drift further away. Broken hearts fall and lose their footing when people hear but do not listen. Broken hearts lie still when the sounds of silence fill the air.

The way to nurture a fragmented heart back to the strong and marvelous living being it is takes the dedication of our most precious human qualities, compassion & understanding. I hear some say time heals all wounds but time alone is often not enough. You see, time is well known to fly past us as we live our lives out. I say if time included people with big hearts and willing to offer their friendship, we would have many more healing hearts.

Steve Heart of Soul
2 time cancer survivor and caregiver