Sandy and Cancer

As I've watched the coverage of Hurricane Sandy I am compelled to compare a hurricane with childhood cancer.
It's not exactly the same thing, but there are indeed human similarities.
Both..

are horrendous to go through.
are numbing to your soul.
bring about a sense of camaraderie within a community of friends, families, and strangers.
can rip a hole in your heart when you see it's devastation.
can take someone from us forever.
hit with a mighty punch when you didn't expect the punch to be quite so hard.
tax both your wallet and your sanity.
drain you of fuel, both figuratively and literally.
leave you walking around dazed.
don't really seem so bad until it's happening to you.
make you do things you thought you wouldn't do at three in the morning.
can bring a family closer together or rip a home apart.
make you fight harder than you ever thought you could to make things right again.
give you a determination to not let this horror ruin your future.
give you a sense of urgency that you can't do anything about.
wish you had a crystal ball to see what the future held.
leave you drenched and drained.
make you wonder if there was something different you should have done to prevent the damage that's before you.
make you love and hug and cry harder than you ever have before.

Childhood cancer and a hurricane.
Both beyond your control.
Both life changing.
Both introduced to you to make you a stronger person if you don't crumble under the pressure.