Perspective

I received some news yesterday that really puts things in perspective. A friend of mine from college just found out four days ago that she has a stage 4 brain tumor. Her name is Stevie and she lived across from me for two years, as roommate to my good friend Katie. Stevie and I were not incredibly close- but I knew her well enough to know that not much gets her down. Her hair is incredibly curly- and her attitude is as optimistic as her curls are tight. While I know she is human, and she has to be terrified, I can imagine that she is handling this in a way that almost doesn't seem to make sense.

In college- she went with another one of her roommates to Dubai or Azerbijan or someplace really foreign like that. While there she went to a water park and through one thing or another had the worst accident that knocked her two front teeth up into her gums. She had to fly back to the states- in that state- before having surgery. After a series of surgeries- she had her teeth removed. Can you imagine? 21 years old, at Baylor University, single gal with a million adorable friends, not having your two front teeth? Most people would totally panic and it would do an irreversible number on their self esteem. Not Stevie. She would take out her dentures and go places without two front teeth in. I think both because she realized it didn't matter, and I also can't help but think that she knew there was some good shock/laugh value there.

For me, that is Stevie in a nutshell. And while I wouldn't wish this on her or anyone, for that matter. I will be watching closely to see how she handles this- becuase I know without a doubt I will be able to learn a lot from it.

Good health is the best gift God can give, aside from love and faith. These are the only things that really are important in the end. Perspective.