I got this shirt not too long ago; the theme of the writing on the shirt and others that I have is similar, around mental health, keeping things together, acknowledging struggle.

This one reads “don’t let the hard days win” … and that’s a good phrase, something to take heart in.

But then a friend sends me a note to let me know his wife was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a particularly aggressive type, life expectancy 4 to 8 years once diagnosed…

My friend‘s wife is maybe 57.

Texting with him over the weekend one of his comments at the end was “the dark days are just beginning, appreciate all the support.“

It’s a whole other level of struggle and coming tragedy you can do nothing about to change the outcome. Your only tools are resilience and perseverance and love, that’s all that matters, all that’s in play with this sort of life set up.

I have another friend in a similar situation. Different disease, different timeline, but the inevitable, same end result.

I also have had three coworkers in the last 10 years who died fairly quickly after battling cancer. And a very close friend who succumb to cancer about seven years ago.

Dark days indeed.

Hold your loved ones close; tell your friends you love them.

Love is the only answer, especially in dark days.