Hope and Courage

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela

Kathy's challenge for the Hope You Can Cling To challenges is "Courage" - Make a card or two to inspire strength and courage to a patient. Or, you can be inspired by someone you know who been especially courageous.

When you or your loved one is battling cancer you are in the fight of/for your life. The first hurdle is getting past hearing your doctor give you your prognosis. Many, many of my loved ones have had cancer. the closest I've come is several small lumps in my eyelids. I thought they were nothing to be concerned about, but they annoyed me, whenever I rubbed my eyes I felt them. I decided to have them removed. My eye doctor told me not to bother having them removed because they'd grow back. Years later a new eye doctor removed them. After the surgery was done he told me that one of the lumps was a melanoma and that he had removed all of it. I felt like someone had just punched me in the gut. I became light headed and everything felt dreamlike. Now, that's how I responded to something that required no treatment and wasn't life threatening. I don't want to think about how I would respond to a serious cancer.

Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things "ALM - Fight Like a Girl"
ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black"; Stampin' Up "Cherry Cobbler"; Bic pink marker
paper - Stampin' Up "Pink Pirouette" card stock; "Sending Love" dsp
miscellaneous - copics; bling; ribbon; charm; button brads; brads; machine stitching; My Favorite Things "Oval" die-namics

Here's the challenges:
Splitcoast Stampers - Hope You Can Cling To HYCCT1205 - Courage
My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club MFTWSC92 - sketch
A Gem of a Challenge #55 - For the Girl

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