My support network.

My battle with cancer over the last nine months has been a very consuming journey.  While I would not  recommend it to anyone, there have been some positive and enlightening aspects, that most likely would have been missed if I had continued on with my "normal" lifestyle.

Without question, one of the major areas I have grown to appreciate more than ever, is my support network.  All of those family and friends that have always been there but I just took them for granted.  To paraphrase an old saying, the members of your support team are like stars.  You don't always see them, but you know they are always there....

The shining star of my support network is my amazing and wonderful wife Holly.  Without her I don't know what I would have done.  After 45 years of marriage, she knows me better than anyone else, and in spite of that she has stood by me through thick and thin.  And lately it has been pretty trying.  But she has never wavered in being my rock and my primary care giver.  I am so very, very blessed.

Then there are the other 10 members of the Davis family.  I could not be more proud of them, individually and as a group.  This picture is from last Christmas.  We had taken a regular family photo, and then someone said to take one with everyone looking scary.  The scary one is my favorite, and captures the spirit of this bunch of goof balls.  Their love, and support, and prayers have always been so special  to me, but during these recent times, even more so.  I am so very, very blessed.

Our church family has also provided a wealth of support and strength.  Between choir members, a couple of bible studies, a Sunday school class, and those many smiling faces you see each week, we have received enough cards and letters of encouragement to open our own Hallmark store.  Talk about an amazing group of prayer warriors.  I am so very, very blessed.

Last, but by no means least, is a long list of neighbors and friends, who have picked up our mail, watered our plants, brought by meals, and even the fellow next door who cut the grass.

It is unfortunate that it sometimes takes difficult times for many of us to fully appreciate those around us who care for and about us, and who can rise to any circumstance to provide love and support.  I am so very, very blessed.