“Write hard and clear about what hurts.” ~ Ernest Hemingway
“The chemo has stopped working.
We’re in the under 10% survival rate now.”
She is 7.
There are experimental treatments. New treatments get developed every few months. She just needs to stay alive and well enough for six months, then maybe there will be something new.
She’s not even mine and I can barely breathe.
Nothing I write can make this better and I can’t write about anything else. Fucking Hemingway. I always did hate him.
Oh wow! This is so beautifully written, from the bookends of the quote, the 3-word sentence, the 10% sentence, the way you write it hard and clear shows how much it hurts. Fucking Hemingway all the way!
LikeLike
Thank you.
LikeLike
There are no other words for something as heartbreaking as this…I am so sorry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My heart hurts for you. Fuck cancer. It’s the worst.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sucks. (Not the writing.)
LikeLike
Lisa, I keep crying. There is nothing we can do. Such a helpless feeling. And every time she is doing well, we allow ourselves to hope, and then… here we are.
LikeLike
This is so sad. I’m so sorry. No words 😦
LikeLike
I’m so so sorry.
LikeLike
Oh shit.
LikeLike
Heartbreaking reality. Hemingway was a SOB. 😢
LikeLike
Hard? Check. Clear? Check. Terse sentences that even that effin’ author might appreciate? Check. Now we need the latest treatment for that seven-year-old.
LikeLike
Oh, Amanda, I’m so, so sorry. She clearly is yours in the ways that matter most–those of the heart. Holding you all in my heart.
LikeLike
Your poet friend. Sending you all love and strength. ❤️
LikeLike
Amanda,
Bring the pain to Tuesday night if it helps. Thank you for this. Beautifully written. So shitty. This journey is awful when we travel it with anyone we love. But with a child? Yeah, fuck Hemingway and cancer and all of it.
LikeLike
What a long and terrible road. Glad you were there to help as much as covid-19 allowed.
LikeLike
Your heart can hold. Steady on.
LikeLike
This is so so sad. Cancer in kids is the worst kind of low, so much suffering. And really you can’t say anything.
LikeLike
The hurt is palpable and I feel it with you. I am so sorry for you and your friends. This piece pierces.
LikeLike
Thank you
LikeLike
What beauty comes from tragedy and is always insufficient. This is beautiful and awful and necessarily efficient but lasting in impact. Incredible writing and I am so so sad.
LikeLike
Oh no. I’m reading back in time, and realizing all that I missed this week. So sorry this is happening. Writing, even when it’s real and raw like this, doesn’t fix the hurt. Sometimes it makes it even more real. Praying for the 10 percent.
LikeLike
Oh Peter, I knew you were reading backward & I knew you would end up here. I wanted to warn you, but there was no way to do it. It was a long week. I’ve been trying to keep up with commenting, but… I’ll have to catch up later.
LikeLiked by 1 person