By Staff
She has three young kids, a husband, two families and countless friends who love her.
She also has lung cancer, lesions on her brain and a battle ahead of her that nobody should ever have to face no matter how many people stand beside them and lend whatever strength they may have.
I've never actually met her, but she's the wife of a long ago friend whose family remains close with mine.
There is a Web site that tracks her progress and updates from her husband that show an impossible amount of courage from two people in their 30s who should be worrying about Cub Scouts and Little League, not surgery and treatment plans.
Like most people who know of this story, I wish there was something I could do to help, some way to add my resolve to theirs and help them get through this long, dark night.
Many folks have helped and it's uplifting to see how people drop everything and step up when someone needs them.
I have heard of sisters rushing to her side, a mother-in-law dropping everything to fly across the country and countless other stories of people doing what they can.
I'm sure there are many more tales I'm not hearing of neighbors and friends, co-workers and acquaintances who recognize that in the darkest times, even a small bit of kindness can be illuminating.
True courage inspires me.
Watching someone find a way to be brave when they have every reason to roll over and be afraid gives me hope that were the worst to happen, I would find a way to draw strength from what I have seen these two young people do.
Because of them, if ever faced with truly bad news, I'd like to think I would find courage in the face of danger, bravery when by all rights I should be scared.
You never know how you might react until you get tested, but you can take strength in the example of others who stand and fight despite the odds, believing they will find victory when accepting defeat would be so easy.
I've been fortunate enough to never have been given truly horrible news.
I've never battled a major illness, dealt with a significant personal tragedy or had anything happen to my wife or son and I'd like to hope that luck continues.
Like many of us, however, I have watched friends and family deal with untimely tragedy, illness and other calamities.
My best friend lost his father in college and recently a close friend lost her significant other suddenly and without warning.
Faced with these disasters, I got to see people summon strength they probably never knew existed.
While they may have easily questioned their fates or cursed the heavens, they took one step after another and crawled forward.
If I can offer anything to my friend and his wife, it's that, the good stories come from somewhere and someday you could be the one sitting and telling of beating the odds.
Have strength and find the courage to take one tiny step forward at a time.
There's a lot of us cheering you on along the way.
He can be reached at dbkline.com.