Editing 2386: Ten Years

[[Randall]]'s then-fiancée, now wife was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010. This is a matter he has discussed in the comic [[:Category:Cancer|multiple times before]], with Randall being depicted as Cueball and his wife as Megan. It has been 10 years since her diagnosis and treatments.

This comic is a continuation of [[1141: Two Years]] and [[1928: Seven Years]], which are shown in the first 16 panels, slightly grayed out.

The first of the new panels shows Randall and his wife at a "Rabbit Rescue", interacting with buns ([[:Category:Buns|a recurring theme]] of xkcd).  The purpose of such events is to get rescued (often surrendered or seized) rabbits or other animals used to interacting with each other and with unfamiliar humans under controlled circumstances, to help them be more suitable as pets and hopefully entice visitors to adopt them.  Randall facetiously asks his wife if she thinks the rabbits have socialized enough, even though he and his wife are there for the sake of their own enjoyment (and she indicates that she would like to spend more time patting a bunny on its head).

The third new panel shows Randall and his wife exploring a mountain. They appear to have found something interesting, due to Megan pointing her finger towards something off-panel. It appears to be a reference to a similar climbing scene from [[1190: Time]].

The fourth panel shows Randall and his wife sitting on the edge of a pier, looking at the night sky. This is a typical romantic nighttime activity. The panel is distinguished because there was considerably more effort put into the drawing of this panel than of the other panels, by virtue of it being nighttime. Thus, the reflection of the starlight on their faces is the center of attention in the drawing.

The final new panels show Randall and his wife sitting on a hill, talking about how they couldn't believe that she would make it to 10 years cancer-free, which according to [[881: Probability]] wasn't all that certain (77% probability -- [[2379: Probability Comparisons|the probability of picking an M&M out of a bag at random and getting one that isn't blue]]). Randall's wife voices a concern that she had seemingly been carrying for a while, that she was a burden to Randall, and explains that she couldn't understand why he would marry her, except as a show of grace. Randall firmly rejects this notion, stating that it was no mere gesture, but that it was important to him that they enjoy "whatever time we could have".

Finally, and as with the first comic in the series, the comic takes a light-hearted turn: because the table does not include values for probability of survival more than ten years after treatment, Randall's wife jokingly concludes that she is now immortal, perhaps thanks to a cursed artifact.  Many anniversaries are traditionally marked by giving gifts, such as the {{w|silver jubilee}} after twenty-five years of marriage (or of a monarch's reign, or an employee's seniority within a company, or anything else). The tenth anniversary is traditionally associated with a tin gift (tin being a much more precious metal [https://www.bartleby.com/95/22.html in 1922] than it is today), but maybe Randall bought it at [[2376: Curbside|a cursed shop]].

The title-text expands on this final joke, as it suggests that there is an official name for this giving of cursed artifacts once the ten-year mark has passed. Also, it seems as though Randall has finally found [[1141: Two Years| a less-gross name]] for this anniversary than "biopsy-versary".

Cursed artifacts that cannot die were recently mentioned in [[2332: Cursed Chair]].

:'''From [[1141: Two Years]]'''

:[Randall (drawn as Cueball) and Randall's fiancée (drawn as Megan) sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]

:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water.]

 

 

:[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticeably longer) are walking through a forest.]

'''New to [[2386: Ten Years]]''':

 

 

 

 

 

:Randall's wife: When they showed me my 10-year survival chart, I really didn't believe I would make it here.

:Randall's wife: I don't understand why you married me when it looked so bad.

 

:[In a frame-less panel Randall is standing in front of his wife, who is sitting on the ground, arm leaning on her bent knees.]