Day 22 of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month; Sue Inches Reveals she is a Bereaved Sibling since 1957!

When Sue Inches and I were in a 4-hour block of writing a couple of weeks back, she asked me what I was working on, and vice versa. We have mutual friends in the writing community, and that's how we were in the same Zoom room. During the 4-hour block of time, a large chunk of my time was spent preparing my blog, checking previously recorded interviews, writing, and uploading my posts to YouTube - all in celebration of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

As we chatted after our 4-hour block, we realized we published our first book in the same year, 2021. Since my book is about Childhood Cancer, she quietly said that her brother died of cancer in 1957. That was it- our connection was made. We talked a little bit more about her being a sibling of a cancer warrior who died of his disease at 2 1/2 years old, and Sue was 4 1/2 years old, and boldly asked her if she would share her thoughts and feelings about her brother dying, and the dynamics that played out in her home at that time. Sue, thankfully, was happy to oblige.

Sue reveals some interesting observations from a little girl's perspective. In fact, she said that she had talked about her brother to others when the topic arose, but no one had ever asked her how she felt or what had happened in her life back then until we chatted recently. I was thrilled that Sue could share her vulnerabilities with me, as well as how she persevered despite being fearful of everything for far too long. Today, Sue lives in Maine, is an environmental advocate, writer, author, and public speaker.

I can't thank Sue enough for sharing part of her history with us! As Sue and most people know, cancer treatments improved staggeringly in the 1960s and 1970s. It's unfortunate her brother, Sandy, didn't have that kind of research and treatment when he was diagnosed.

Terri