A MARRIAGE MADE MORE BEAUTIFUL BY THE CROSS

This drawing is a gift for two friends of mine, recently married, who in the first year of their marriage have had to face the terrible trial of cancer. The young husband, pictured with his lovely wife in the drawing, has the same cancer that I was treated for in 2000. My cancer, stage IV when diagnosed, had spread to my abdomen. This young man has metastasis in many other places, but he and his family are truly remarkable for their enduring faith, hope, and love in the midst of their difficult struggle against his disease.

I have been able to keep up with their story through a website that hosts his mother's journal of the family's experience of the "good fight" her son is waging. Being deeply impressed with the beauty of the family's faith, and praying with them for his complete and total healing, I felt led to complete this drawing as a tribute to a young love purified "as through fire." I can tell that his wife has truly been a rock for this young man, and I know that my own experience of this trial would have been less awful, and more sweet, if I had travelled through it with the love of my life. Love is at its best and shines clearest when it triumphs in the face of suffering, fear, and doubt. I included, as you can see, two scripture verses, one to honor the vocation of this young wife, and a second which always gave me comfort when I was sick with cancer. May they too very soon "reap with cries of joy."