2016, I am Done with You.

2016, what a year you have been. You have given me so many challenges. Emotional challenges that just keep on coming. I don’t even know where to begin. I’m a strong person, this is I know from the challenges of previous events in my life. But this year, well this year has been a clusterfuck for lack of a better word. (Although, I think clusterfuck sums it up nicely.) And being the interesting year that you’ve been, you even did me the courtesy of having the end of 2015 give me a preview of what you would bring.

What am I talking about? Well, first you had December 2015 surprise me with Kolby’s cancer diagnosis. Let me tell you, I was NOT prepared for that. At all. She seemed so healthy, that when the vet informed me her cancer was terminal, I was gobsmacked. How could this beautiful, loving dog that I was adopting into my life be riddled with cancer? Why? Hadn’t she had a hard enough life? Didn’t she deserve to live a long, happy life with me? Then, if that weren’t enough, my grandma who also had cancer fell out of bed and broke her arm and ended up in the hospital. Seriously?!

Then when you came rolling in on January 1st, you let us have a small bit of peace. Until my aunt became so ill that we were scared that we were going to lose her.  She pulled through, but you weren’t finished. Kolby’s cancer progressed so much, that her battle needed to be ended so she wouldn’t suffer. February 6th, 2016 was one of the hardest days of my life. I had to put my girl to sleep. By myself. Why? Because my grandma was in the hospital and my parents had left town that day to see her. So they didn’t get to say goodbye. At least my aunt, my best friend and her daughter were able to be with me because I don’t know what I would have done if I had to be all alone.

March came along and saw my grandmother’s condition worsen and her battle was lost as well. But you decided that wasn’t good enough, and had to make my uncle sick causing him to miss his mother’s funeral. And let’s just say his condition is serious without the added rushes to the hospital that you had him make. I’m just glad that you decided that he’d been through enough the last few years and spared him.

But you decided that you weren’t done with me. I, apparently, have not had enough. No. apparently, being given a break is not in the cards. No. You had to do me one more time. You decided that this year needed to be topped off big. You decided that it would okay to announce that my dad has prostate cancer. Low-grade, sure. But cancer nonetheless. Because cancer is going to be the ruling factor in my life. This disease that has wrecked havoc on the lives of so many, has become the one disease that just won’t quit affecting my loved ones.

2016, you are not over yet but I do hope you are over causing me grief. Because if you are not, you can be damn sure that I WILL own 2017 and will own it with a vengeance!