How Precious is Each Day? Chapter 12; Coco's Journey

by Larry Puls @larrypulsauthor

Life in the Midst of Cancer, Ovarian Cancer

People were filing in the church. One by one the rows were beginning to fill. There was an audible hum emanating from the sanctuary. Coco knew that the time was drawing nigh.

And she was very much thankful to be alive.

Her daughter Kate was hiding away in the dressing room with her attendants. The veil would soon be in place. She prayed the day would be everything she had hoped for!

The temptation was too enticing. She walked back to see her daughter—one last time. 

As she made her way through the door, she scratched her itchy scalp under the wig. And then looking down at her waist line, she smirked. The dress had probably loosened a tiny amount over the last few weeks since her final fitting. But those were small matters. She would not let those tiny issues ruin this one beautiful moment in eternity.

She gazed across the room.

All the bridesmaids were surrounding her daughter. She couldn’t help but smile. And the picture made her see the reality of the day. This young woman, her only daughter, was about to be given away in marriage. Wow. Could it be? How did the years zip past so fast?

And then like an uninvited movie, a glimpse of memorable events that they had shared over their lives popped into her mind. A remembrance of Kate plodding down the stairs, rubbing her sleepy eyes as a child. Where did that one come from? She must have been three at the time. And why that memory? She didn’t know. Then another vision. This time it was from when she had first learned to ride her bike—and then the subsequent fall—all on the same afternoon. Tears were spilt over the scraped knees. The next one brought back a time from just a few years back. The blue dress crossed her mind. The one they agonized over before her senior prom—way too much tension over that one. And then as if the dress event hadn’t been enough, the day she dropped her off at her dorm for the first day of college came blazing back. Can’t go there, she thought. Was that really five years ago? How could time fly by so fast? So many sweet memories fading with time—never to be experienced again.

Why does life have to be so fleeting? Hmmm… Her head shook. When she considered it, she felt like she had let it slip away too easily. So often, without even a thought. But how she wanted them back right now. This very second.

The emotion was too hard to control. Her eyelids felt the weight of the accumulated moisture. And then the tear broke free. It plunged to the floor. Her eyes blurred. So many feelings were swirling around in her head. Sadness had crept in like an awful virus. Sadness that she was losing her Kate. Even though she was losing her for all the right reasons.

At that second, the gorgeous bride looked across the room. The two of them immediately locked eyes. Communication was being transmitted through a stare—words without speaking. She hoped that her daughter would not perceive the redness casting its tentacles over the whites of her eyes. Perhaps the distance would shroud the image. Yet as they stared, one thing was certain, love flowed across the lines of communication. A powerful emotion. It was a language unique to a mother and daughter. Translated without words. A feeling. A sense. An understanding grasped from a glance. 

All of the visions and thoughts and emotional vacillations occurring happened in five seconds. Maybe even less. A split second? Coco’s mind was like a tornado, spinning, churning, wondering—where did it all go? How did those last twenty-three years disappear into oblivion? Why did it have to be this way? The cancer accentuated all the questions.

Then a new resolve hit her. Life would be different from now on.

She would consider each day more precious than before. From now on, each twenty-four hours would now hold some special memory, a special thought—because life would not go on forever—or maybe not very long—if the cancer got ugly. Then she erased that last thought.

Her husband slipped in, tapped her on the shoulder and told her it was time to go. She needed to be escorted down the aisle by their son. And then he told her he would be in soon enough—with the most beautiful daughter that God could have given them. And with that, she smiled one last smile, blew Kate a kiss, and mouthed the words—I love you. Then she turned to go.

How Precious is Each Day? Chapter 12; Coco's Journey; Larry Puls; (Click to Tweet)

Don't Miss the Previous Chapters

Coco's Journey; Chapters 1-10