Swan in Flight

Five years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The following two years I went through one treatment after another " chemo, radiation, a number of surgeries.  It was a hard time for my family, especially the children. I have always been strong and energetic, the caretaker and the nurturer. Now I was weak, bold,  sad, depressed and afraid. My husband, my sister and brother -in-law, my children and my niece and nephew were confused and frightened. No one knew how to deal with this new reality, but worst of all, we didn’t know if the treatments would work and what the future would bring.

The treatments ended and we started slowly rebuilding our lives. My body stared growing a bit stronger every day, but the fear of jumping into life and being dragged back into illness was still there. We took it one day at a time.

On Nena’s 17th birthday, the two of us decided to take a car ride down a lovely stretch of the Huron river and then have a picnic at our favorite metro park. We packed sandwiches, fruit, cookies, water and coffee. My taste buds were just coming back to life and every flavor seemed a revelation I could savor and delight in. It was a fresh, warm, dazzlingly sunny June morning. We opened the car windows and our hair was blowing in the fresh breeze. We were listening to Bob Dylan very loudly, one of his operatic 70’s albums. The river was shimmering next to us.

All of a sudden, out of the shimmering waves a swan flew into the air and turned towards us. It stayed in the air for what seemed like a long time, through an entire segment of a Dylan song. Then it gracefully landed on the water and slid through the river like an Olympic ice skater. Slowly, it came to a stop and rested its head on its wings.

Nena and I held our breath in wonder and delight. We looked at each other and smiled in understanding. It was a glorious gift for Nena’s birthday. It was reassuring to see that the beauty and joy of nature will always go on. We knew that all will be well. No matter what happens.