Just around the corner in December 2023, I was flying high, falling in love with a beautiful woman to getting my dream job, but little did I have an idea what’s coming around the corner. Just around the new year, my mum was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Initially the diagnosis was unclear to whether she had a fat deposition, I was a little happy that if it indeed was really was fat deposition but we headed to Kerala for diagnosis, it was later confirmed that she was suffering from Stage 3 cancer some of which has spread to lymph nodes. Just as hard as storm could hit, I started loosing focus in whatever I did, my job, friends, families. I spent some time with her during and after the surgery and she wanted to stay with her family back in Kerala and I decided to head back to Kolkata for my full time job. I could have stayed there since I had a remote job, but internet reliability and lot of other factors could have hindered my job performance. So I decided to do what’s best in my control to perform at the job as much as I can since it was a relatively new job, any degradation in performance could result in termination and I didn’t want to loose a safety net during critical times. Being a sole bread earner, comes with great responsibility.
Thats me and my mom before the surgery.
The world came crumbled down as days passed by, the bare minimum support system is lost and I didn’t want to bother my father with my negative emotions. I tried hard focusing on work but I couldn’t give my all. All I had was Rocky who used to sit beside me with gentle eyes, trying to pat me and say “Everything’s gonna be alright”. He knew I was going through a difficult time, getting out of bed was difficult but he still encouraged me to take small steps, go for a walk outside, breath some fresh air and talk to people. Nevertheless, we shared a close bond and he could support the best way he could to come and cuddle me whenever he can. His sign of closeness is a little different from other dogs, he wouldn’t come running to you cuddle, instead he would just curl up in your legs and enjoy the love, the moment and warmth. That’s his love language. This was enough for me to make up reason to live life, be strong and never give up, no matter how bad the situation is. The funniest part is no friends checked in on me while I was going through this and hence I decided to cut them off from my life.
That’s Rocky encouraging me to play fetch, his favourite game. Glad I have Rocky in my life. This picture reminds me of saying “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.!”
Fast forward a year, my mother has successfully undergone chemotherapy, I landed a new job but still haven’t been lucky in finding love yet, probably I will. Here’s a little picture of my dad, my mother and Rocky together on a camping site. She hasn’t gained her health completely yet, but I’m lucky I have my family near me.
Rocky taught me important lesson during bad times to never ever give up and keep moving. I’m really blessed to have him in life. Here’s a picture of Rocky smiling with a ball inspiring me every second of my life.
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