We're nine months into the year. I look back at my blog and realize that I've not written one single post all year. Say What?
It's certainly NOT because I've been in a shell. Rather, I've been soaking up the sun, enjoying the sunrises and sets, and keeping it moving. But, I've seriously managed to put writing on a back burner. I used to love writing. It is/was therapeutic in many ways. Yet, I seem to always take the time out to do everything but write.
So, now I'm in rewind mode ~~~ Rewinding back to earlier in 2018 to capture celebratory moments, exciting news, and so forth. I can't have this blog sitting empty for 2018.
L I V I N G
This year, I celebrate YEAR FIVE of survivorship.
From the day that we're diagnosed, we look forward to YEAR FIVE.
There is no magic in the number; however, as a survivor ~ it feels magical. It's the time period that we're told our risk of recurrence decreases. I understand in life there are no guarantees. As a survivor, we live with the notion that cancer could come back. God Forbid.
Even with the cloud that can loom over us, we celebrate year five.
The truth is I feel incredibly blessed to make it to year five. I pray that I will continue to thrive and survive. Life after cancer is filled with twists and turns (even after treatment ends).
I understand that as we continue to lengthen the day(s) from treatment others see us as "ok". We're seen as overcomers. Oh yes, we are overcomers!
We celebrate the days --- our dashes. There's a quote that implies the dashes are from birth to death. I'd venture to say survivors have two sets of dashes. We'll live the dashes between birth and death. But, we will also live the dashes that mark date of diagnosis to death. Thing is, the second set of dashes when the word death is mentioned sounds so morbid.
This feeling that makes death associated with anything cancer related is why I've chosen to celebrate day 1, year 5 and any/every other day since/after/ahead. Cancer did not win. It did not sentence me to death.
These are the twists and turns that we live -- celebrations intermingled with moments of doubt and fear. The realization that every day is blessing with a sprinkle of moans and groans about what cancer left us with -- Neuropathy, chemo induced menopause, weight gain, etc. Whatever the downside -- the upside is nothing but joyful because I'm here. I'm still here writing this post about how I choose to celebrate life.
Doubt, fear, moans and groans come and go. The will to appreciate everything life has to offer is here to stay. When given the opportunity, I will stop and smell the roses every time :-).
Hugs & love, CC
