My husband is truly a saint when it comes to my television tastes. Don’t get me wrong, he mocks them profusely, but he always snuggles in close to me and cares more about being together than watching what he would actually prefer to watch.
He’s much nicer than I am because the second he turns on sports I hightail it the hell out of there.
But one show that we both watched for years together, and actually mutually enjoyed, was The Real World/Road Rules Challenges. I grew up as a child of the first ever “Real World” and it was a series that was truly revolutionary. Of course, it eventually became a collection of smut and trashiness, but sometimes, hey, that’s enjoyable to watch too.
And I have to admit, I always had a soft spot for Diem Brown. She and CT had the tumultuous on again/off again romance and it hooked me in, like it did millions of viewers.
But that wasn’t where I truly developed a liking towards her. No, it was when she started documenting for People magazine her cancer struggles. I loved her honesty. I appreciated that she put her raw feelings out there. She dared to do what many writers struggle with – to truly expose themselves at the risk of judgment.
She would post pictures of her failing body, her lack of hair, and her tubes/machines pumping life into her veins in the hospital.
But today, she lost her battle. At just 32 years old.
No, let’s not say that.
She didn’t lose. She beat the shit of cancer but her body couldn’t keep up with her spirit.
My heart breaks for her loss. She openly talked about wanting to get married and have children – a path my life has taken me, and I feel sad that she didn’t get to experience that kind of love and joy.
But perhaps I’m wrong.
I believe in an after-life. I believe that “something” continues after you leave this world. And I once read something very comforting about this. It said that when a person dies young it is because they have learned all their life lessons. They didn’t need to live longer to learn more. For some reason, that brings me comfort.
The holidays are upon us. You’re going to buy tons of crap for your family – and that’s okay, you should. I will too. But how about we give just a bit of that money to cancer research? You decide how much and to where. But how about we all do it and try to make this cancer crap go away? I will if you do.
