Dear Pain,

I won’t say that I love seeing you around all that much. To ‘fess up, a while back I saw you coming my way, so I preemptively crossed the street. I’m sorry about that. You had hurt me so many times before that I guess it was just an instinct to avoid you.

This isn’t a letter to say I forgive you for all the suffering you’ve put me through. It is however a letter to say thank you.

You are the voice of my body, I know that now. When I finally stopped taking asprin and decided to open up my ears to listen; you not-so gently told me I was more sick than I could have imagined.

Cancer, I would have never guessed.

You saved my life because you are so persistently annoying. I am eternally grateful for that.

While I still may not want to see you much, I’ll make sure to never avoid you should you decide to come around.

We’re solid,

R.C. Blackstorm