power of prayer

Almost two years ago my dearest friend
was hit with a double whammy
her then 18 year old son about ready
to graduate high school was diagnosed
with a rare form of soft tissue cancer
that had spread pretty quickly.

as Michael began his treatments
my friend Shanna found out she was
pregnant.( which was a surprise because
a few years prior she miscarried at 6mo)
she did not know what to make of all this
she was trying to be strong for her son
and she was trying to enjoy the pregnancy
as best as she could do to the circumstances
so she created a website where family and friends
could be informed on Michael's progress
and leave him nothing but positive messages.

this was really hard for me cause I have known
this young man since he was 8 years old, and
he and his brothers and my children used to
hang out go kite flying and all sorts of things
it was kind of like watching one of my own
going through it.

the message board she created really was
inspiring. people all around the world
would leave inspiring messages,
my daughter even wrote a poem for him.
Michael said he was going to be cured
by his 19 Th birthday.

Shanna had to believe
that was the case. because she could
not believe that God would take one
child away to give her another,

Michael stayed strong throughout
all the treatments, he wanted nothing
but positive thinking even when he was so
down.

The Doctors even were not holding much hope
but then Michael began to heal and every ones
prayers had been answered by our Lord .

Michael's cancer was gone before his
19Th birthday, His doctors could not believe
how fast his cancer was healed, ( we all know the
Lord had a great deal to do with it)

We saw Michael at his dad's
40Th birthday party and you could tell he was
slowly getting back to himself. His mom delivered
a beautiful baby girl ( she has three boys)that Feb

Last Feb we celebrated Hannah's 1st birthday and
Michael being cancer free

Michael will turn 21 in Nov. I talked with Michael
(Mikey ) as we call him and I asked him how he felt
he said he did not know why he had to go through what
he went through but in a strange way he found a hidden
talent he has( making videos) his family was brought closer
together and he does not take life for granted and a funny
note: he enjoyed getting brownies from his favorite 2ND mom Me!
whenever I see him I have to take him homemade brownies because we
used to bake them when he was 8 and he has fond memories of it.

he also said it was great to rekindle old friendships, and make new friends
all over the world through the old website.

at the same time of Michael's battle of cancer
there was a reporter for the San Francisco Gate
that was also diagnosed with a rare soft tissue cancer
she has chronicled her battle as she is living it
her name is Alicia Parlette
she has endured so much that we all keep her
in our daily prayers and hope that she will
be a miracle too
in one of her writings she said this

"This is what life is
going along for the ride
taking moments as they come out
and being able to pull out all the
beauty in it all"
Alicia Parlette

I say she is right, Life isn't always
beautiful but it's a beautiful ride.