20-some years ago, I met Tamara. I will never forget the image of her so joyfully walking into preschool with her son, Addison, riding piggyback. While other moms and dads (myself included) were dragging their kids along, distracted with daily to-do lists and the logistics of drop-off, Tamara was fully living in the moment and embracing Addison’s fleeting childhood. She knew so much more than me already.
As the years went by, Tamara and I crossed paths many more times, sometimes at our kids’ schools, sometimes through friends and sometimes through our creative careers (Tamara is a gifted author, illustrator and visual artist). When I learned three years ago that she’d been given just months to live after a diagnosis of recurrent cancer, I was heartbroken.
My friend Peg and I rushed to meet up with her and offer support; I will again never forget the day we first saw her after that difficult diagnosis. Wearing a winter coat with a giant Jesus Loves You button pinned to her lapel, she entered the room just as beautiful and determined as ever.
Her journey since that day has been paved with highs and lows, but - three years later - she is just as vibrant and faith-filled as always after choosing to pursue both alternative (traditional Chinese) and western medicine to keep the cancer at bay. Her life during those same three years has been abundant with love, hope and faith as she has embraced daily gratitude and a powerful desire to share all she has learned about God’s grace with anyone who is willing to listen. She has also cherished watching her daughter get married and celebrating the birth of her first grandchild - two things doctors told her she'd likely never see.
I cannot thank Tamara enough for sharing her story of faith and perseverance with us. She is a guiding light for all who are fortunate enough to cross her path -
Lisa
*The title of this piece is excerpted from the New King James Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:7-21. But Tamara’s guiding bible passage is “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Psalms 119:71
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