{"id":507,"date":"2014-04-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/?p=507"},"modified":"2014-05-15T17:37:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T21:37:14","slug":"cancer-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robinbotie.com\/blog\/cancer-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Let Cancer Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Robin\u201cMom, do you need anything brought to the cleaners?\u201d my son asked, holding up a half- dozen dress shirts in shades of blues and red.
\n\u201cWhat are all those for?\u201d I asked. His eyes sparkled.
\n\u201cIf Jon wins,\u201d he said gleaming, \u201cparties.\u201d The coming weekend, his friend, Jon Bones Jones<\/a>, would defend his title as UFC<\/a> Light Heavyweight Champion of the world.
\nAs my son walked to his car, the colorful shirts fluttered in the wind, reminding me of Tibetan prayer flags. And suddenly hope was hugging me as I watched him drive off.<\/p>\n

Jon\u2019s fight; I had to see it. He had to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo bloody. Too violent,\u201d friends said when I canvassed to share the Pay-Per-View. To see the event I\u2019d have to go to a bar, by myself, at ten on Saturday night. That was less likely than my son ironing shirts. But I was determined.
\nGoogling the contender\u2019s name, I couldn\u2019t stop reading about his powerful blows and 20-game winning streak. Could Jon beat this guy? Memories of injuries from past fights pummeled at my hopes. I rubbed my eyes to wish on fallen lashes. I cried, imagining the dismal scene if he lost, the clean shirts put back upstairs unused. Please let Jon win.
\nFor days I willed him to be strong and went without my daily glass of wine, to comply with his training regimen. Let Jon keep his title, I pleaded each night, looking up at the stars as I walked the dog. He has to win, I told myself all week. The last time I\u2019d prayed this hard was near the end of my daughter\u2019s <\/a>almost three-year battle with leukemia. I needed a victory<\/a> celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited,\u201d I emailed back to my friend Marcy when she confirmed I could watch the fight at her place. \u201cI\u2019m so nervous,\u201d I told her husband and son-in-law as I plopped down on their couch during the preliminaries and quickly devoured the corn-chips.
\nPlease win, I whispered as the match began.
\nPlease, because I want my son to wear his dress shirts and be happy.
\nWin, because my daughter\u2019s friend, Jake<\/a>, an avid martial artist, had said, \u201cDon\u2019t let the cancer win,\u201d before he died. And last week, Troy, one of her high school classmates, lost his fight against cancer. Because the National Cancer Institute reports survival rates for young adults with cancer have not improved like the rates for pediatric and adult cancers.<\/p>\n

You have to win, Jon. Because I need to see more young people winning their fights and living their dreams.\"Robin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Mom, do you need anything brought to the cleaners?” my son asked, holding up a half- dozen dress shirts in shades of blues and red. “What are all those for?” I asked. His eyes sparkled. “If Jon wins,” he said gleaming, “parties.” The coming weekend, his friend, Jon Bones Jones, would defend his title as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[120,121,119,118,42,122],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1","tag-battle-with-cancer","tag-cancer-champion","tag-dont-let-the-cancer-win","tag-finish-the-fight","tag-jon-bones-jones","tag-ufc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t