Posted by Michael Kane (Reid’s Uncle) on Michael’s Blog:

Love on the Fourteenth Floor

I just spent a three-day weekend with one of my nephews. He’s 19, sweet, caring, wickedly funny and very recently diagnosed with leukemia. He’s on the fourteenth floor of a new facility at OHSU in Portland, in a room with a million-dollar view, surrounded by loving friends and family and a dedicated medical team. Under the circumstances he’s doing quite well.
To visit Reid you’re first admitted to the bone marrow unit then suit-up with a surgical mask, gown and gloves. A gentle knock on his door gains you entry. Ironically, even with his drips in place, Reid looks the most normal of everyone in his room, the rest of us…look strange, at best.
But looks in general don’t carry much weight in these sorts of environments. Medicine matters, energy levels matter, appetite matters, mood matters and love matters. Love really really matters.
If you’re a regular to my blog you know I talk a lot about love. For me, everything in life is about love, one way or another. Reid is surrounded by love, awash in it really, and I can’t think of anything better for him than that.
He was well loved before all of this and will be well loved long after he is healed and back to his normally active life.
And that brings me to a question. What does love look like in your life? Is it there; vital and constantly present? If so, that’s as it should be. But if it feels absent, or it’s somewhat there but not quite where you’d like it to be — and this is not about having or not having a relationship — then work on loving yourself. That will make the difference in the end.
Starting today would make the most sense. Waiting another day, week, month or year is what you’ve been doing, and I suspect that hasn’t been working particularly well for you.
Self-love means that you understand everyone is deserving of love, including you. I know Reid would agree with me.