A Couple of Things to Remember

The year isn't half over and I already know I will not be looking back fondly on 2015. It's been a year I'd rather soon forget. Unfortunately, that will not be an option.

My wife has Stage IIa breast cancer and is currently going through chemotherapy treatment; my dad is dying from two cancers, one of which is so rare it doesn't even have a name; and my mom has some horrible skin disease that is so rare only a few hundred people (maybe a few thousand) have it in the entire world. All of that on top of dealing with, for the past several years, my autistic son who has a seizure disorder that no drugs have been able to control.

But I'm not here for self-pity or to ask for your sympathy.

I'm here to say that everyone, yes, every single one of us, has problems. We all have issues we'd rather not deal with or can't believe are happening to us or that beat us down with worry and grief.

Maybe it's what makes us human.

So remember that the person next to you in line at the grocery store, or the person that cut you off in traffic, or the person that gave you a hug and let you cry on their shoulder, well, they have problems, too.

Maybe, even bigger problems than yours.

So we should we respect each other for the things we don't know about one another. After all, with a few exceptions throughout the world, most of us are just doing the best we can to make our way through life.

And sometimes, life sucks.

But not always.

Remember that: Not always.