New Cancer's Eve

Today, my aunt, who I'm especially close to, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in her pancreas.  

In working on all the hospital documentaries that I've worked on over the last four years, I've been around a number of sick and cancer laden people.  With what goes into telling their stories, the countless hours spent with them, we get to know these people very well.  It's natural to feel empathy for them and their families.

I'm asking myself now, was it really empathy I was feeling?  When it's happening to your own family it feels different.  This is someone who through the years has eaten what I've eaten, breathed the air I've breathed, who's blood isn't much different than my own.  

It's different when it hits close to home.