"Ronald W. Leonard, 56, a lifelong resident of the Lake Geneva area, died Saturday, June 6, 2009, at his home following a long and courageous battle with oral cancer."
This paragraph began Ron's obituary and apparently it was a cliche. I was more than a little offended by this article because Ron DID fight a long and courageous battle--he just happened to lose. I am amazed to see that you other cancer survivors apparently agree with this article. Now, I fully admit that I am still deep in grief so perhaps I am being too sensitive, but with all respect to Mr. Jennings, Prostate cancer is MUCH more survivable than Oral cancer and I would think that you would all know that.
You may call cancer a journey or a life lesson or "life raised to a higher power", but those seem like cliches to me too. Ron always felt like his cancer was a battle, and he fought it with everything he could. I think anyone with cancer is in a battle-they just don't know if they are going to win the battle or not.
Lori