Sandy Aguilera knows better than most that life doesn’t always go as planned. A school teacher, wife and devoted mother, Sandy has always been an adept planner and an efficient doer. In Sandy’s ideal world, the plan was to grow old with the man she is happily married to, be there for all of the important milestones in her son’s life and continue teaching Spanish in a classroom that felt like home for 20 years.
Instead, at just 52, Sandy is facing her third cancer diagnosis, and treatment options have narrowed.
Yet somehow, with a wide, warm smile, Sandy starts many of her sentences with “I am grateful.” She laughs out loud — at herself, and all the mysteries of life. She radiates kindness and a formidable strength, and only softens when she mentions the future she can no longer plan for.
Ask about Wellspring, and Sandy’s joy bubbles up.
“Oh my goodness — Wellspring is amazing! When I went to Wellspring, I could breathe. I could take a step back from it all and choose to learn new things. I have learned so many things about myself that I never would have known if it weren’t for Wellspring. I learned to play ukulele, to sing and to dance. I learned yoga and tai chi, and I discovered art — I didn’t know I was artistic! Art is a real highlight in my life now,” she said.
Back in her days as a teacher, Sandy happily filled every hour of every day working, volunteering, making decisions … keeping busy. Now, unable to work and living precariously with incurable cancer, she still craves that feeling of being productive.
“When you have cancer in your life, it can take over; your life becomes all about going for treatments and waiting for results. One way for me to cope was to bring some normalcy back to my life. For me, that meant being busy and believe me, Wellspring kept me busy! When I was well enough, I always had somewhere to go — a calendar full of Wellspring programs. This helped me greatly. Even at my worst, I still had some things I could choose in my life and that felt normal and meaningful to me,” she said.
Recently, when Sandy was extremely unwell and had to spend two months in hospital, she put her newly developed art skills to work to keep herself busy and show her appreciation to the medical community.
“I made over 90 thank you cards for all the nurses who took such good care of me,” she said. “When you are sick, you are in the most vulnerable place in your life, and these nurses were so amazing. I never felt like it was just a job to them — they really cared and wanted to help. I am so grateful for that, and grateful that Wellspring gave me the skills to make cards for all of them,” she said.
Back home, Sandy somehow faces each day with humility, grace and gratitude that defies her circumstances.
“At this point I’m too sick to embrace Wellspring the way I did in the past, but I still do art and meditation online, and I’m so grateful for that. I don’t have all that I wish for, but I’m here and I still have Wellspring,” she said.