BETHEL — Nancy Fox is 69 years old and was the last person in her family to
accept Jesus into her heart.

She has said she planned to go to hell because “that’s where all (her) friends are.” But after her faith pulled her out of a severe battle with depression, she accepted God and the power of prayer.

“After that depression, if that was just a taste of what hell was like, I thought, ‘No, I’m going the other way,’” Fox said.

Now she is grateful for her faith, which is assisting her in a new battle — tougher than the last and impossible to win.

Last summer, Fox went to the doctor for back pain. An exam turned into an X-ray, and the picture confirmed her greatest fear: The breast cancer she had beaten in 1991 was back — and this time, doctors said, it couldn’t be beaten.

“It’s all over my spine, in my leg and in my ribs,” Fox said. “I have this cancer that’s going to kill me unless I get run over by a school bus first. So that’s what I’ve been dealing with.

“My biggest fear was getting sick and being alone — and my biggest fear came true,” she said. “But it’s fine.”

It’s fine because Fox said she knows where she is going — she does not fear death. She knows everything will be joyful once her journey ends.

Heaven, according to the Bible, Fox said, is a place with no sorrow and no tears, only happiness. Plus, she has people there waiting for her, and those who will join her in their own time.

“My father died of a heart attack, and another fear of mine came true,” she said. “But he accepted Jesus into his heart. So did my whole family. My brother, sister and I all sit in the same row in church. The family knows where they’re going.

“My mother said the other day, ‘I just need to go to heaven; I’m tired.’ That’s a good attitude, I think,” she said. “She’s not suicidal or depressed — just ready.”

The family worships at the Bethel Alliance Church on Walker’s Mills Road.

Her faith, Fox said, is what has let her live the time she has left in joy.

emarquis@sunmediagroup.net

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