Mike,
You told us about your cancer.
So I will tell you something about mine.
I know what it is to sit in fear.
To wait for results that may change everything.
To feel your body betray you while the world continues as if nothing is happening.
I know what it means to need basic human decency from the people around you – not as a luxury, but as something essential to get through the day.
Which is why I cannot understand you.
Because someone who has stood in that place – who knows what vulnerability feels like – should recognize it in others. You knew what I was battling.
And yet, when I was in that position, you chose something else.
Not understanding.
Not restraint.
Not even basic decency.
You chose actions that caused harm.
Cancer strips things down to what matters. It leaves very little room for illusion about who we are.
So the question isn’t what you’re going through.
It’s what you chose to do while knowing exactly what it feels like to be on the other side of it.
And one more thing – please stop saying hello to me in the elevator.
You do not deserve my acknowledgment.
Acknowledgment is earned.
— Claudia
