Last weekend at John's reunion I had a conversation with a couple whose ending was quite different, though the months getting there were laced with the same pain, uncertainty, hope. 

They kept looking at each other as they retold for me the sequence of both thyroid and olfactory nerve cancer: daily treks to radiation, remission, radiation induced brain swelling, and finally health. They stood before me laughing more than crying, though I suspect there was a time when that was not true. They began dating in high school and everyone knew they would have a storybook marriage. But no one predicted such a battle for something many of us ignore in our evening list of prayers: A cancer free body.

She spoke tenderly of the hour long drive each day for seven weeks toward something both awful and redeeming. As a teacher she could do it without sacrificing her job. His boss was generous in his forgiveness for time off, sometimes sending his exhausted employee home to rest. 

While the couple in the Imagur story did not beat the cancer, their love was not zapped by the fight for her life. He posted the photographs for strangers like me, perhaps to say he still loves her. Perhaps to remind us to hold on tight.