Cancer sucks. We’ve all heard the saying, those of us who have been touched by a cancer diagnosis know it’s true.

When cancer strikes, it is hard, messy and ugly. Cancer steals time, health and happiness. It breeds fear, anxiety and sometimes devastating uncertainty. Cancer just sucks.

Cancer can also forge amazing personal strength and community generosity.

This year, cancer struck our work family here at Cherryland when one of our member information representatives, Sonya Sias, was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s a diagnosis no one ever wants to hear.

As she has valiantly endured surgery and endless weeks of chemotherapy, I have constantly been impressed with her strength, her positivity, and the love she has inspired in others.

While Sonya has faced this painful diagnosis and treatment, our Cherryland family has pulled together to show her support. Through our employees, I have been reminded of the goodness of people and the importance of taking care of one another.

From pocketbooks to personal time, every single member of the Cherryland team has given freely and generously.

Throughout Sonya’s treatment, our employees have shown their support for her family in countless big and little ways. Meals, fundraisers, a sympathetic ear, cancer has revealed amazing generosity at Cherryland.

It has shown the ways adversity engenders strength and beauty. The ways kindness builds amazing communities.

Don’t get me wrong; I still think cancer sucks. But, if we’re lucky, it also causes us to see what is most important: our time, our relationships, and the love we show one another.