The most overused word in the dictionary
"Mr./Ms./Mrs. ______________ died Monday following a courageous battle with cancer." Nearly every obit you see where a person died of cancer starts this way. I don't feel courageous and neither does anyone else I know that has cancer. People who have fought in wars, don't feel courageous either from what I have seen and heard. Even decorated vets typically say (if they talk about it at all), "I was just doing my job. " Having cancer is a lot the same. You do what you have to do and move on.
And generally speaking annoucers that use this word when referring to athletes, and (God help us) athletes that use this word when referring to themselves need to be smacked. The day it takes courage to be paid $5 million a year to go across the middle, you can sign me up.
Maybe my obit can start, "Mr. Clarke died of cancer Monday like 550,000 other Americans will this year, and over five million have during the past decade. Severe underfunding of basic research at the federal level, and ignorance and/or intentional misrepresentation by various governmental officals of what would occur if stem cell research were allowed and funded at an adequate level, contributed to his death."
4 comments:
Tom: I disagree. There are different kinds of courage. Some types do involve brief situations like facing gunfire or running into fires to save a life. However, of equal impressiveness is how a person responds when faced with a bad situation with limited options, and the major real choice is how that person will conduct himself no matter how it turns out. When you maintain your humanity and dignity, and you consistently do the best that you can do for your family - no matter what is going on or how long it lasts, that is real courage. The fact that this type of courage often arises in solitude with no fanfare, or any hope of fanfare, only makes it more impressive.
I agree with Ben - and even further; I'd say the truely courageous tend not to think of themselves as such, which is paradoxically, an indicator of their courage.
Amen Tom. I'm damned sick of people calling me "brave" because i got cancer. I'd rather be a healthy coward thank you very much...
Hang in there anyway. May 2007 be happier and healthier for all of us!
lor/abigail
Tom,
I agree. Courage requires choices. We have few choices. Maybe courage is the wrong word. You have faced some serious adversity. The only choice you have is to keep living, which is not much of a choice (though there are people who "give up"). Some people plop on a couch or hospital bed loading up on oxycontin and Judge Judy waiting for something to happen.
You have strength and endurance, and to use a favorite of current politics, resolve. The fact that you just don't mope around feeling sorry for yourself with two primary cancers is inspirational to me, and I know it is to others.
I have a feeling you're going to be around for a while.
aaron
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