She seemed the least likely suspect to die of liver cancer. My aunt was lean, fit and athletic. Up until three years ago, she had never even had a pain medication. In touch with her body, though she was 73, you’d never know it. By all accounts, she seemed ageless. Death was something that hadn’t crossed her mind because she had plenty of time to worry about that later – or so she thought.

In 2003, she discovered she had breast cancer through a routine screening. A serious disease, she underwent treatment like so many successful breast cancer survivors have before her. She knew she was healthy, and this too would pass.

Surprise – a year and a half later, a bad stomach ache led to the discovery of colon cancer. Her diet and lifestyle was what most would think was a recipe to avoid getting this disease – plenty of high fiber vegetables and regular exercise. She had previously passed on colon cancer screening because she didn’t see herself as a candidate for this disease, and her doctor had agreed. So, who’d of thought?

She had already gone through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation with the breast cancer, now it would begin again with the colon cancer. She was in pain and felt awful. Her doctor told her this fight was serious and she needed to give it all she had – aggressive chemotherapy and Tylenol.

“What’s this Tylenol?” she asked. My cousin told her, “The rest of the world pops them like candy, girlfriend. Take them, you’ll feel better!” She gave in, but begged her doctor for lower doses of chemotherapy, complaining that she felt sick and couldn’t eat. The doctor asked, are you vomiting, do you have diarrhea? She had neither.

He asked her what she had eaten, and she listed her diet: soft boiled eggs, toast, juice, cereal, and soup! Frustrated, he informed her that she had eaten! The problem was she wasn’t dining on her favorites she had enjoyed her whole life. Her quality of life was compromised.

My aunt was sick, and she couldn’t handle her illness or the treatment. She didn’t know what it was like to be sick and limited. Still, the thought of death hadn’t crossed her mind, and for all her friends and family, the assumption was that she’d be able to fight this disease.

On Jan. 18 of this year, she received a clean bill of health. By all accounts, she was successful with her colon cancer fight. On Feb. 5, feeling unusually tired, came the deadly blow: liver cancer. The same doctor, who had conceded to her request for lower doses of chemotherapy the year before, was blunt this time: Aggressive chemotherapy, or you’ll be dead in two months. In short, this was a death sentence for my aunt. Death… Could this really be?

The fight with death began, yet another round of chemotherapy. A week later, my aunt was begging to stop the chemo, and was asking everyone to pray for her healing. It didn’t have to be a miracle, she assured, rather, a healing – physical or spiritual. She needed help facing reality – she would be dead very soon.

Transported to a hospital, she was dead within 12 hours of her arrival. It all had happened so fast, sending shock waves to family and friends who couldn’t believe that this woman, of all people, would experience three cancers, and then die! Why did this happen? God only knows.

As a culture, we avoid death at all cost. It’s reflective in the treatments that we undergo. At great expense, we extend our time on this earth – many times opting for quantity over quality of life. Perhaps, if my aunt had taken all the chemo full strength, she wouldn’t have died so soon. But this wasn’t her idea of living. Heaven forbid – she wouldn’t give up would she?

I thought it was fitting that she died in the season of Lent – a season in which we enter a spiritual journey to suffer and die with Jesus so that we can rise to new life with him. It’s also a time to put things in perspective. As much as we might think that we’re in control, we really aren’t. We’re called to face our own mortality – face to face.

Lent is like a fire drill – a call to get ready for the real deal. Pain meds and treatments prolong the inevitable. We’re all going to die, so eventually we must give in. To let go and let God, is to surrender your life to Him – your creator so he can bring you home at last.