"I Believe in You!"

A message of hope, stories from the road

By Bob Perks

Well, I do hope you are staying cool if you are in the heat of summer and warm if winter is your season.

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First, thanks to all of you who have continued to keep my wife, Marianne in your

Prayers.?  Everyday I get messages asking about her.?  So here's the latest.

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We saw her surgeon who removed both breasts.?  I love this man dearly.?  He was thrilled to see her progress.?  His last words to? us were, "Well, I'll see you every six months.?  We'll grow old together."

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Of course I cried.

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Today, her plastic surgeon set the date for her final reconstructive surgery.?  August 16th, 8:00 A.M..?  This was a bit more traumatic for both of us.

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As I stood behind my wife and watched her fill out all the paper work, I had very real flashbacks of the first surgery.?  I began to shake a bit, tears? held back for her sake dried up long before they hit my cheeks.

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Then I saw her write her diagnosis on a form for her employer..."Breast Cancer."

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Oh God, it punched me in the stomach.?  Not that I had? forgotten.?  But I learned to accept it and it lightened the impact until? that moment.

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She stood up and as we left the? office she reached for my hand, not saying a word.

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We went through the final doors to the outside and as I turned to say something to her, I saw her face.?  She was weeping.?  Her tear soaked eyes, her red face just sank my heart into the deepness of this reality.?  I turned to her and held her as we both cried.

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Relief??  I wish.?  Still afraid??  Yes.?  I? have not been able to sleep now for a few weeks.?  I want this all over and finished.

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This is one of those events in life that leave more than the physical scars.?  I am emotionally drained for some time now.? ? 

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But this scar will fade.?  It will, in turn, leave "A Good Scar." (Today's story)? ? 

???A Good Scar???

By Bob Perks

Bob@BobPerks.com

???He was a great doctor.?  He always left a good scar,??? she told me.

???I thought a good doctor wouldn??™t leave a scar,??? I said.

???It was the way he handled it that made the difference.???

It made me think about life??™s challenges.?  Some leave bruises, some bumps and still others scars.

The bruises in life hit hard, but fade after awhile.?  The more direct ones leave a bump that reminds us for some time that we??™ve been hit hard.?  The really tough ones leave scars, almost forever marks that fade a bit over years, but still remain a part of us.

???The doctor always stitched the wound in such a way that it looked terrible at first.?  But he developed this process so that little remained afterwards,??? she went on to explain.

???Maybe that was the idea.?  Make it really ugly so that when it heals, anything would look better than that,??? I said.

She laughed and said??¦???Only you would think of that.???

So when we get hit really hard it may be ugly at first.?  How we choose to handle it will determine how long it stays with us.?  How we choose to see it helps us to deal with it and move on.? 

The small scar on my hair line in the middle of my forehead bothered me at one time.?  It really stood out, at least to me.?  But then, as years went by, it wasn??™t important.?  In fact, it brought back fond memories.?  You see, it happened in high school.?  In reality I got hit in the head with a door.?  Now I smile and remember the look on the face of the kid that did it to me.?  He was more afraid than I was.

Yes, life can leave some scars.?  But those without scars never knew the joy of getting up after being knocked down.? 

I??™ve been down.?  I??™ve got the scars to prove it.

I can look at one and say??¦Now that??™s ???A good scar!???

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