God bless you, Belinda

My sister and I wept our way through last night's edition of Australian Story (Mondays, ABC, 8pm) featuring the beautiful, late Belinda Emmett. I'm not sure what got to me more – her personal video diaries, which showed her to be good humoured, caring, positive and strong in spite of her cancer and the clumps of hair washing down the drain in the shower; her performance at Carols in the Domain – singing was her passion and Christmas was her favourite time of year; the out-takes of her goofing around on the set of The Nugget despite hearing of her bone cancer diagnosis just a week earlier; the video of her and Rove dancing to Ben Folds' "The Luckiest" at their wedding (he sang the words to her as they gazed into each other's eyes); images of her at play at family barbecues and on the beach; the way her dad retold the story of her last two weeks and the last words she said to her sister, "Are you alright?"; or the fact that her spirit, in so many ways, encapsulates what I believe is the true Aussie girl spirit – fight against adversity and keep your chin up, love.

Or perhaps it's because she's so much like my gorgeous aunt, who's fighting her own cancer battle right now. Cancer is a bugger of a disease – in its many and varied forms – and you're a lucky person if you've not known anyone who's been affected.

I'm not sure why God takes beautiful people like Belinda away from us, or why so many young, healthy people are being diagnosed with cancer, but I do know there's something positive we can take away from their experiences – like not sweating the little stuff quite so much, spending more time with people you genuinely love and adore (and who love and adore you), and less with those who drain your spirit, finding your passion and running with it, and letting love, not money/success/ambition, rule your life.

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel

Picture care of news.com.au.