'Graybar'

Occasionally in life we come across a piece of art, a tune or a lyric, a poem or a piece of writing that immediately grabs our attention, and keeps us enthralled. It evokes in us strong emotions, good or bad, may be a sudden and powerful reminder of something. It may fascinate us or scare us, it may make us question or be filled with wonder…… or may do all of those and more.

‘Graybar’, a blog whose author is a Norwegian lady named Karine, is for me one such experience.

A number of weeks ago I was surfing the blogosphere and by some route, now forgotten, I came upon Karine’s writing by chance. I sat into the small hours of the morning and read from the first paragraph to the last! In those hours I laughed so hard my face hurt, I cried, I felt happiness, sadness, empathy, anger and other indefinable emotions. By the time I had finished reading I felt I had been allowed a privileged glimpse into the life of someone special.

Karin writes about her day to day life, about ‘Kidlet’ her son, ‘Catlet’ her beautiful grey cat, her social life, her husband, her friends and her family and life’s up’s and down’s, much as we all do, she is bright, articulate and well read and she has a very specific reason for beginning and maintaining her blog.

The first post was made 13 days after she was diagnosed with stage IVB metastatic cervical cancer and she felt that to mail all those who she cared about and who cared about her would be too hard, so she began ‘Graybar’.

It would not be an exaggeration to say I am in some awe of this lady; she is facing a difficult time in her life with courage, common sense and humour. Should I ever find myself in her situation I would like to think I could be half the woman she is. Karine herself would likely beg to differ; she genuinely doesn’t see herself as brave and courageous and amusingly refers to her ability to have ‘a one woman pity party’ from time to time. It would in my mind be a strange individual who didn’t.

This blog is not depressing, Karine is not depressing, she deals with her situation, her treatments and her emotions in a refreshingly honest way and does not dwell on the negative. She writes amusing, informative and enlightening posts and lives a rich and full life as far as her illness allows….. and I suspect beyond! Her writing is a journey through a situation I suggest most of us fear to some extent and her great ability with words leaves one feeling in some small way that they have been there with her, through the highs and lows.

I could extol the virtues of this lady and her approach to life unendingly but I suggest instead you read it for yourself.

If ever there was a blog that should be published in book form it is this one, for not only is it a poignant, sensitive, informative and amusing piece of writing it would also, in my opinion, be of great help to anyone else finding themselves facing a similar situation. Certainly many of Karine's thoughts, theories and her ethos will remain with me.

~This posting is made with Karine's kind permission~