Sometimes the road changes before the destination does.
Some Roads Change Without Warning
There are moments in life when you know you’re changing direction.
You make the decision.
You take the exit.
You choose a different road.
And then there are the other kind.
The ones where the road changes before you ever had a chance to vote on it.
Cancer was that kind of turn for Sue and me.
We had plans.
Retirement.
Travel.
Selling everything.
Living full-time in a motorhome.
Seeing the country while chasing 70 degrees.
And then the road changed.
A detour is not the same thing as a dead end.
I Haven’t Always Been Good at Remembering That
When something interrupts a plan you’ve spent years building, it can feel like the entire plan disappeared.
Sometimes disappointment talks in absolutes.
Never.
Over.
Gone.
That’s especially easy when the detour isn’t small.
A cancer diagnosis doesn’t simply move something from Tuesday to Thursday.
It can rearrange months.
Years.
Priorities.
Expectations.
It can make you look at a future you had already pictured and wonder whether you’re allowed to picture it anymore.
But Changed Is Not the Same as Gone
That’s something I’ve had to learn slowly.
A canceled trip can be rebooked.
A retirement date can move.
A route can be redrawn.
A dream can change shape without losing its meaning.
I’m not suggesting every loss gets replaced.
Some things really are lost.
Some doors really do close.
But sometimes we’re so busy grieving the road we expected that we mistake a different route for the end of the journey.
Roadside Reflection
Don’t confuse a changed route with a canceled destination.
We’re Still Moving
Our map looks different today.
There are medical appointments on it now.
Treatments.
Tests.
Things we never imagined would become part of our travel planning.
But there are still roads on that map too.
There are still places we want to see.
There are still adventures Sue and I haven’t had yet.
The destination may take longer to reach than we originally thought.
That’s okay.
We’re still moving.
And sometimes that is enough for today.
And So…The Adventure Continues.