This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The problem with this subject is it never really fits into a nice, tidy package.
Not that I should be complaining, because I'm not among those who are directly affected by Sara Hill's illness.
The wife of Weber State football coach Jay Hill was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma last August. The story at the that time was how her battle with the disease would frame the Wildcats' 2016 season, as players and coaches supported her with a "Strong like Sara" theme.
And then in November, when I checked in with her, she expressed thanks to a team that qualified for the FCS playoffs during an exciting season that distracted her from the effects of chemotherapy. Those were encouraging stories to write, because of her attitude.
And then I forgot about her. That's forgivable, in a professional sense, because Jay Hill's team was not playing any games. But from a personal perspective, it overlooks how Sara Hill's battle with cancer continued.
She completed her scheduled series of treatments in January, only to have the cancer return. So she underwent a bone marrow transplant, followed by three weeks of radiation. In a month or two, her husband said, she will learn whether or not the latest treatment was successful.
"That's why cancer's such a pain in the butt, because a lot of times, it does come back," Jay Hill said this week, during the Big Sky Football Kickoff in Park City. "You don't want to live your life on eggshells. … If I had my guess, it's completely cured right now."
That's the hopeful viewpoint, and it stems from Sara Hill's attitude about her condition at age 38 as a mother of four children.
"You just kind of get through things. That's how she's handled it," Jay Hill said. "We knew going in that this was going to be an ordeal. Life can throw you crazy curveballs … I've learned just watching Sara how to be tough and how to be resilient. She's done such a good job of making sure it didn't affect the kids or didn't affect the team. She's still around the players as much as she ever was, just because she wants the players to see that this has not affected her this much. Her attitude has just reiterated to me that a positive attitude is everything."
And her story of the past 11 months has reminded me that real life continues for football families year round, not just during the season.
Twitter: @tribkurt