Journals and Papers

Writing in a journal through illness is a great way to relieve stress and release the silent voice that screams to be heard, but wishes to scream in silence. Mostly, we don’t want to burden our family members with true feelings of the illness we are suffering, especially if the illness is terminal.

I recently lost an aunt to brain and lung cancer. She kept journals for most of her adult life. Several hardbound journals lined her bookshelves as her life experiences unfolded over the years as stories within these journals. When I heard about her illness, I thought that she might want to describe her feelings as she fought the cancer, so I sent her a “Her Life” journal. I thought as we prayed for a healthy outcome, she might like to write about her journey of the battle she was having with her health. When she was well she could look back over those pages, or place it on her bookshelf with all the others.

Sadly, with chemo treatments and radiation, she was only able to write a small bit before she had trouble seeing and writing. She did continue drawing and “doodling” (she laughed when she told me that) inside that journal. She lost the fight against cancer a few months after she received the journal. I hope that by jotting down a few things, my aunt was able to find some peace from the pain that engulfed her. Now her journals are being passed onto her children so they will come to know the strong woman behind the words.

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