Mickelson will need family, friends facing second fight

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The pink ribbon on Phil Mickelson's hat will now be in support of his mother, Mary, as well as his wife.

When the news hit my inbox early Tuesday morning, it was yet another reminder just how fragile life is.

How one minute you're worried about getting to a movie on time, the next you're facing real life. The hard stuff. The things that make us shake our heads and wonder why.

The things that we meet head on, not knowing exactly what lies ahead, only that we're going to fight it with all we have.

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Then you get hit again.

Just when Phil and Amy Mickelson were getting positive news from her breast cancer operation last week, Phil's mother Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer, too. Now, 10 days after Amy underwent surgery at Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Mary will, too.

Oh my.

Six weeks ago, when Amy's diagnosis was made public, we all took a deep breath and offered our thoughts and prayers. Pink ribbons appeared at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, and a Pink Out followed at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial the next week. Our hearts went out to them, yet, at the same time, we knew Phil and Amy's faith and positive attitudes gave them a head start on the fight. As any survivor will tell you, being positive is 90 percent -- maybe more -- of the battle.

And there's the strength. What we all see is Amy's sweet nature, her ease with people and her compassion for others. What's underneath is a steely strength and, backing it up, a strong man.

Amy left Phil notes and texts during the U.S. Open, hinting that she'd like a big trophy in her hospital room, and he tried. So hard. He battled Bethpage, the field and his emotions in a very public way and came up short. He finished second -- again -- then it was wheels up for a family vacation before Amy's surgery.

Most of us fight these battles in private. Phil wound up fighting part of this one in front of reporters and television cameras and worldwide headlines. He was honest and open with his emotions during the U.S. Open, which, at times, may have been a bit cathartic.

But now ... well, we can only imagine.

Unfair? Absolutely. But instead of going down that road, we remind you that Amy and Mary couldn't be fighting in a better place than M.D. Anderson. The world-renowned cancer center is an amazing place. It's a bustling town of its own within Houston's medical center -- a place where cancer is the only focus, and miracles happen daily.

As you walk the buildings and take shuttles to appointments, the staff -- doctors included -- stop to ask whether they can help you get to where you're going. The best of the best take on every form of cancer there and beat it -- with surgery, treatment and clinical trials.

Phil wouldn't have it any other way.

The U.S. Open provided a refuge for him before the surgery. He could talk to Amy before and after a round and lose himself in his game for those 18 holes. He needed normal, and he found it at Bethpage. Yet now, normal has changed. His wife is convalescing from major surgery, and his mother is heading into the operating room.

Strength. He's got it. Even for this double.

The amount of love that's been thrown Phil and Amy's way these last few weeks is amazing. From the cards and letters to the Pink Out to the crowds at Bethpage ... it's both humbling and uplifting.

This was supposed to be the lull in the storm -- his chance to take a breath before charging into phase two of the battle. Now he's fighting on two fronts.

My mind wanders to George Banks -- Steve Martin's character in Father of the Bride II. Watching him handle the stress of his wife and daughter being pregnant and delivering the same night -- yes, totally different situations. Yet Martin finds himself fighting simultaneous battles, too, and, in the end, he reminds us that love, strength and faith do indeed pull us through the tough times.

A card I found the other day put it best: "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our spirits have trouble remembering how to fly."

It's easy enough to find room for Mary in all those thoughts and prayers, but make sure to double up for Phil too.

It's times like these when friends -- even those you don't know -- lift us up and mean the most.