Today I went to the funeral of a young woman who died of ovarian cancer.   She was 36 years old. way too young to die.  She did good deeds, she made an impact, she lived every minute of her short life.  She started a project thanking cancer researchers via letters from survivors, a project that I support, and hope to continue.  She had an impact on me personally.

All I could see while at her funeral though, were the angels on the altar.   There was much to look at in the church, there were many people, there was much activity, but all I could see were the angels.  There were 2 angels, one on each side of the altar.  They were beautiful.

I have never believed in angels, but everything that has happened in my my life for the past year has brought me back to angels.  Reiki sessions focused on angels, my daily meditation words are angel cards, my therapist and others around me regularly reference angels.  I have spent the past year thinking that the existence of angels would be beautiful and reassuring, but obviously not true.  Until today.

My son and I have a mission to  make Teal (the designated color for ovarian cancer) the new pink.   While ovarian cancer is called the “silent whisperer”, there are actually symptoms which could lead to earlier diagnosis.  I had every single classic symptom, but because I had no Awareness, I waited to seek help until I was stage 3B.  If women, doctors, and the general public  were as aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer as they are of breast cancer, the survival rate would increase substantially.  Women previously diagnosed stage 3 or 4 could be diagnosed at stage 1 or 2, changing their outcome dramatically.  That is our goal; to change the outcome.

Today, in church, I saw those angels, and I envisioned a way to reach the general public, in the way that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has educated us all about breast cancer. We’ll pursue the idea, and see if it works.  If you are suddenly aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, it might be because of our efforts.  And, if that happens, could it be from angels?  Did angels, including Sarah, reach down to me today and give me an idea I otherwise never would have had?

I hope so.  I hope Sarah, at age 36, is still making positive changes in our lives.  I hope that Sarah did not die in vain, that her life will mean something to more then those who knew her personally.