When Grief Acts As a Catalyst

Anaya Nosso
2 min readOct 6, 2021

Sometimes your darkest moments can inspire you

white flower against black background
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

I wish I could forget the day I found out my brother had colon cancer.

I was working as a writer at a place I was slowly beginning to despise.

My father called. He rarely does. We had no plans of seeing each other that day and he knew I was at work.

That’s how I knew something was wrong.

“It was cancerous.”

I felt a pit in my stomach.

I wasn’t surprised. I had already known.

The moment I heard that my brother had growth in his colon and there was a chance it could be cancerous, I knew it would be.

I had felt it in my gut.

So, this call from my father wasn’t exactly a surprise but, it changed everything.

I called my brothers more. I spent time with my family as often as I could. I thought about the trajectory of my life constantly.

And, I finally decided I would quit that job.

My brother got better. He beat cancer.

Things went back to normal but, they’ll never be the same.

This was years ago.

But I often cry about it.

Every time I hear of a sibling with cancer I am propelled back to this moment.

This moment was a catalyst in my life that pushed me to stop settling.

It was a blessing in disguise that I’m not sure I would want again.

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Anaya Nosso

I help people heal with my words via poetry, personal development, and creativity tips. I’m open to writing opportunities! Contact me at ayanaosson@gmail.com