THE WHY? FOUNDATION - TOUCHSTONE THURSDAY
Written on March 22, 2011 by Allison W. Gryphon
Holly was fierce. She was smart, wise. Her impenetrable strength
radiated a force of life only found in legends. She pulled at her skin and
ripped at her hair in a frenzy, screaming from the depths of her soul; weeping
from the very fibers that held her together. The insanity had struck. The
madness for life, for living. For one more walk on the beach without a care in
the world. Just one. Holly wanted a simple moment of untainted bliss, of calm,
of peace. But that wouldn’t happen. No matter how the journey before her
unfolded, things would never be the same for Holly. Her walks on the beach were
forever changed. Because that’s how it works. That’s what cancer does.
For those of you who
know me, you may have read this on my A.W. Gryphon’s Bits & Pieces flash
fiction blog last year. I wrote this as a response to my dear friend and stepmother
being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. It struck me while I was driving
home from work only hours after the doctor had delivered the news. Out of
nowhere a tornado of feelings hit. I pulled over to catch my breath and “Holly’s
Walks on the Beach” poured out of me and onto a pack of post-it notes I had in
my purse… I wrote with fury, just needing to get it out… having no idea that
three weeks later I would be diagnosed with stage IIIa breast cancer.
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