Chelsea Ciccone Tribune News Service Iâm almost certain youâve heard platitudes such as âYou only live onceâ or âYou could get hit by a bus tomorrow.â And though these remarks may evoke an exaggerated eye roll because of their common appropriation in justifying spontaneous purchases and questionable haircuts, they also remind us to enjoy living. Because despite its trials and minutiae, life is precious, and we have to take advantage of what little time weâre given. Nothing ignites our appreciation for life quite like looking death in the eye. For these seven writers, it was an earth-shattering cancer diagnosis that forced them each to contemplate life with the sobering realization that their time had been cut severely short. Their memoirs â some survival tales, some not â transform the bleakest of circumstances into honest, heartfelt meditations on life itself.