Sometimes, you don’t know what you’ve got until you don’t have it. That’s not exactly how that quote goes but it’s accurate all the same. You plod along with your daily life, taking certain things for granted, as if things will never change. And then….they do. They change in ways you never expected, and your life goes in another direction.
I have a person who works with me. She is my manager, and her name is Josée. She has worked for my company for 12 years now. I adore her. My wife and I call her my daytime wife, and I hope this does not offend anyone. She keeps us going. She runs our office, our store, handles my clients, talks to people when I cannot, cheers me up when I am grumpy, listens to me complain, is my buffer from telemarketers, orders our inventory, and another 1000 things she does that she has learned over the course of our 12 years as co-workers. My customers adore her. She is patient, kind, loving, sincere, and above all respectful of everyone that steps through our door.
And now she has cancer.
We all know someone who has suffered this dreaded disease. We all know someone affected by it. It is as pervasive as you can imagine. Cancer is the one we all hope nobody gets, the diagnosis we all dread. That it is much more treatable now we should all be most thankful for. But treatable is a term that is all-encompassing. It’s a generic term that ends up meaning a variety of things. It does not take into account the other effects of this disease: financially devastating, extremely invasive on families and friends, worrisome and stressful.
Josée is about one of the best people I know. But cancer does not give a sweet fuck who it nails. It goes after anyone and everyone. So just because this sweet loveable person who would not hurt a fly is awesome…..it showed up. Despite Karma and all of the good she has done, her doctor still had to tell her the news. Someone this special should not have to tell her husband and her kids and her family and her friends that her life has to be put on hold, that she can’t participate in certain things for a while so that she can let the healthcare professionals treat her and guide her on this most personal of journeys. We who love her are relegated into secondary roles, supportive roles that hopefully help her even a little bit. That she has an awesome family does help us all feel a bit better. But still….this journey is hers to make.
We are going to start fundraising for Josée so that she can keep her house. So that she can feed her family. So that she does not have to worry about everything, so that she can concentrate on getting through her journey and getting back to living normally, such as it is. We are compelled to help her as much as we can, for she has helped so many others and never asked for anything in return. Gofundme is where we are going to start. Fundraising dinners, concerts, whatever it takes to help her, we will do. It is our duty. She is loved. We need to step it up for her.
I am hopeful that we will succeed in making her path a little more tolerable. I realize that there are so many others out there with ordeals of their own, and hope that enough people support them as well. As a free society it is incumbent upon us to help others, a little or a lot. Please help us help Josée get back to us healthy and well and whole. She has a whole lot of living to do. She has so much to offer. Her kids and husband need her. Her family and friends need her. But most of all, she needs her.
We love you Josée. God speed.
Bill's Musings 
Moi, jai rencontré Josée justement a son travail, puis, des le début, jai resentis qu’elle avait une energie positive et energitique et une personne aupres qui sans doute aimerais mieux apprendre a connaitre. Je te souhaite que de la bonne energie et je crois fortement que tu seras tres forte et courageuse dans ton cheminement qui est devant toi. Ton sourire va t’apporter très loin. Tu seras parmis nous pour très lontemps encore. Amour, lumière et Paix. Yvon
Mon cœur, mes pensées, mes prières sont avec toi…garde ta joie de vivre,ta bonne humeur, ton sourire…tout ceci t’aidera à vaincre cette épreuve…l’amour de ta famille et tes amis t’apportera le réconfort, la chaleur, la paix de l’âme.
Wishing Josee and her family all the support needed along the way. Keeping you in our prayers. Bill, you are a good friend. Good friends, do take care of one another.