It seems they had always been,

and would always be friends.

A.A. Milne

 

February 5th marked the one year anniversary of when Mark officially began home hospice. Fortunately I was able to stay home with him the entire time, and I wouldn’t have traded one minute of it. We were already best friends, and over the years this cancer experience had given us an even deeper bond. Having those last three months together, without me having to go to work, was a special blessing.

Nobody wants to go through something like cancer, hospice, and end of life with their best friend, but in my experience it does make your love for each other even stronger. Many of the hours we spent together would not have happened if we hadn’t been in this situation. The hours we spent together in emergency or hospital rooms, at chemo treatments or in countless waiting rooms, and those times when because of symptoms we stayed up together late at night and merely “wished for the day” … I can’t say we realized it at the time, but those hours were strengthening our love and the bond between us.

So when I saw this quote from A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books, I knew I had to try drawing it.

Above are some details of “Friends” as a “work in process”.  Below you can see some other pieces I’ve done this year to celebrate our special, God-given love and friendship. The letters “MADK” stand for Mark Andrew and Debra Kay. The dates are our wedding date and the date he passed away.

It seemed they had always been, and would always be, friends.