There Are No Accidents

Backgrounder : 

I've been a fan of her Phil. Daily Inquirer column, Roots and Wings, for a while now. So when I found her on Twitter, I followed her account right away. She's a known Grief Expert, this was the main reason I followed her on Twitter. I wanted to read her thoughts, I was hoping to learn a thing or two about how to help myself heal from my Dad's unexpected death. I was pleasantly surprised when soon after, she followed my account, too. We began exchanging tweets, reacting to each other's thoughts.

When I tweeted about receiving all sorts of messages from people regarding my breast cancer diagnosis, this was at the same time that Sec. Jesse Robredo died in that awful plane crash. Cathy wrote down her thoughts in her blog about how the media should approach the bereaved and I instantly had an idea. I wanted to come up with my own list of things "not to say to someone who just found out she has cancer". I tweeted about it, she replied and told me, I should go ahead and do it. Then she went on to say something about interviewing me for Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

I told Cathy that I was game but I was scheduled to have my surgeries in a few days. No problem. We agreed that we could meet after I've recovered from going under the knife.  

We set the date --- October 12. Exactly one month after my surgeries. How symbolic!

I'm usually not my talkative self when I meet someone for the first time, unless I feel absolutely comfortable. I immediately felt at ease when Cathy sat down opposite me that morning. We had yummy chicken and asparagus crepes and brewed coffee. But soon, I had to go. I hated the fact that I had a 12 noon appointment in Cardinal Santos because I seriously wanted to stay and talk some more.  

For obvious reasons, this entry won't include all the interesting and fun (and personal haha!) things that Cathy and I talked about. All of it will appear in her column tomorrow. I can't wait!

For a really productive morning, thanks so much, Cathy. Our brief session made the rest of the day so easy to deal with (all those lab tests and injections - ugh!).  My friends list has grown yet again. I just love meeting people from whom I know I can learn so much. 

THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS. People come into your life for a specific reason. 

I've always, always believed in this and I thank God for allowing me to meet Cathy.

P.S.

I guess it is also fitting that my first official entry in this blog is all about meeting Cathy Babao. It was her suggestion that I create another blog just for my breast cancer journey. The credit for this blog's name also goes to her. Yay!!! Thank you and see you again soon, Cathy!