Country singer Coffey Anderson, 42, has recently opened up about his wife Criscilla Crossland Anderson’s diagnosis of colon cancer that she received in 2018.
Tearfully, Anderson told PEOPLE, “I don’t think about it when we are in the middle of it. If I ever break down, I will never break down in front of her or our babies.”
In the past year, the couple has been enduring a lot of scans, treatments, and diets when it comes to Criscilla’s ongoing battle against stage IV colon cancer. In fact, she had to be hospitalized after receiving immunotherapy treatment in October with a severe allergic reaction and an enlarged liver.
“One of the biggest things that I have always said is, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’” Andrson said of a hypothetical question that he actually posed many a time during the first season Country Ever After, the couple’s wildly popular Netflix show. “You eat it one bite at a time. And when we are in the middle of it all, I really focus on what we have to do that day.”
He admitted that his mind wanders when the house is dark, the kids are quiet, and Criscilla lays her head down on the pillow next to him.
“I’m not going to say that it’s not really hard at night, because it is,” Ander added, “but when you say ‘for better or for worse,’ you have to mean it.”
“It leaves us humbled and thankful and over the moon, because it still feels rather unexpected,” Anderson continued. “I don’t think people understand the power of thankfulness and gratefulness. There is a special power in being grateful, and we are grateful for every day and for every memory. There is something special about saying to yourself, ‘Wow this is amazing, and we are so thankful.’”
The ongoing pandemic has undoubtedly affected Anderson’s career as a touring artist, canceling the majority of his booked dates in 2020. However, he has refused to let the pandemic get him down.
He said, “When you are grateful and thankful, you can’t compare yourself to anybody else because what you have is sufficient. So, if I start comparing my career or my family to someone else, that takes a massive blessing of what God has already given me.”
“I don’t look past tonight,” he continued. “We take it one day at a time. We take every day and every moment, and we make a memory. Love the ones you got, while you got them, as hard as you can, while you can.”
He said Criscilla’s latest scans show that her tumors are either staying the same size or even shrinking, stating, “We are going to ride this positivity until the wheels fall off.”
For now, his 40-year-old wife has decided to take a break from her additional chemo treatments.
Anderson said, “We just needed a break. Those scans came back positive and good and everything seems to be on the up and up for her. It’s giving us the break we needed emotionally. I feel like we might have a success story happening right before our eyes.” The article originally appeared on PEOPLE.
