day in the life
Highlighting
the everyday life of a couple living well with a slow-growing cancer.
Life isn’t
always easy, and there will certainly be sorrows and losses
along the way. But being alive is good. It is very good.
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Sunday, November 30, 2008
A few things from my
Thanksgiving list
Gary and I packed our snowshoes and camera and set off
early yesterday morning for the nearby mountains. The intent was
to get a little exercise and maybe snap a photo we could use on
a Christmas card.
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The Cascade Range is glorious this time of year, even
though we have less
snowfall than normal. The Bachelor ski resort is
usually open for the
Thanksgiving week, but the lifts weren’t running yesterday.
Even the snowmobilers weren’t out, which meant we
had no problem finding a parking spot.
We walked out on a small alpine meadow hemmed in by
Bachelor, Broken Top and South Sister. We
snapped a few photos and then kept
walking for the sheer pleasure of the physical activity and
the incredible 360-degree views. |
On my Thanksgiving list (which I keep year-round): my
husband here beside me, being able to get out of bed in the
morning, living in this amazing wonderland and the holy Advent
season that is upon us ... just to name a few.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving Eve
It’s 32 degrees out. We’ve lit a fire and put on some music
in celebration of the lovely thought that we don’t have to go to
work tomorrow.
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I can’t decide if it’s more enjoyable to sit near the fire
and get toasty warm … or to sit across the room and
be mesmerized by the flames. So as soon as I’m
through here, I’ll do both.
Sometimes the anticipation of something is as much fun as
getting it. Which makes Thanksgiving Eve the
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perfect
evening
because it is the prelude to a 4-day weekend with so much to be
thankful for … followed by the advent of the Christmas season.
Wishing you all a warm and toasty holiday!
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Sunday, November 23, 2008
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Roundabouts
You can call them roundabouts or traffic circles. Either
way, they're supposed to help keep the traffic
flowing in a one-way stream around a center island.
The City of Bend has been putting them in all over town
like they’re going out of style. |
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Which I hardly think will happen since they’ve been in
style for a while. The world’s craziest traffic
circle is probably the one in Paris circling the Arc
de Triomphe. The arch was completed in 1836 and who
knows how much traffic has been trying to circle it
for decades. |
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Exactly three weeks ago I was complaining about things
moving at turtle speed.
But ... since then, we’ve held our first official board
meeting to approve the by-laws for our 501(c)(3); we’ve sold 111
books; we’ve addressed a couple more groups of survivors; I’ve
done a local radio interview; our book is being featured on the
home page of the Tug McGraw Foundation
Web site for a month; and
we have 3 new bookings for 2009, including a radiation oncology
conference in Portland and an interview on the national
livestream Stupid Cancer Show.
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I had a long list of things that really needed to get done
this weekend … but I only crossed a few things off
the list.
Some of you know where I'm going with this. Traffic
circles. My life at the moment. |
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
How Starbucks saved
my life
Gary and I are out on a date and it’s not even Friday
night. How lucky can a girl get?! We’re at Barnes & Noble – yes,
the place that made me invisible last week (Nov 6 blog entry)
... but I’m not one to hold grudges.
Busy things going on. I’ve just finished typing a couple of
letters to go with a couple of books we're planning to mail –
one to a magazine and one to a Portland television reporter who
is a cancer survivor. We did our presentation to a small group
of survivors yesterday afternoon and held our first official
Cancer Adventures board meeting last night (terrific board
members!).
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Speaking of Starbucks – I just finished reading a fun
little book entitled, How Starbucks Saved My Life,
by Michael Gates Gill. It’s touted as a
rags-to-riches story, but it’s technically a
riches-to-rags story if you look at it purely from a
materialistic standpoint.
If you read it with a view that people and relationships
are our greatest wealth, then it is truly a
rags-to-riches tale.
The author is a bit wordy – there are times when you’re
thinking, “Didn’t he just say that but in
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different
words?” But it’s still a good read
because it reinforces what we ought to already know—that
the people in our lives and even those on the periphery of our
lives—are incredibly valuable.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
Training for
Switzerland
A while back, Gary and I set up a “fun” savings account (as
opposed to our “no fun” savings account that pays for stuff like
unexpected auto repairs and out-of-the-ordinary medical
expenses). When we have enough saved in the fun account,
we visit faraway family or spend a week on the Oregon coast in
celebration of our wedding anniversary.
One of the things on our list of fun things we want to
do is hiking in
Switzerland. I’ve been there a couple times, but not with Gary …
and not hiking.
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There is a local trail that is reminiscent of some of the
places I've visited in Switzerland. Past the town of
Sisters, you turn right off the main highway, park at
Jack Lake and hike up to
Canyon
Creek Meadows at the base of Three Fingered
Jack. Here’s what it looks like in early summer (at
left) with
profuse wildflower activity. |
Yesterday was a gorgeous golden day after a snowfall
earlier in the week. We packed a lunch and headed back up to
Canyon Creek Meadows. At this time of year the meadow grasses
are brown and most of the recent snow had melted due to a couple
of sunny days.
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We sat in the warm sunshine eating our lunch at the foot of
this massive boulder called Three Fingered Jack.
Tuna sandwiches on whole wheat never tasted better!
I’ve mentioned before that Gary says when I talk about our
future together it gives him hope. I am seriously
talking about hiking in Switzerland, and yesterday’s
hike was just part of our training! |
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Radio interview
The most unexpected thing happened to me while I was out
running an errand yesterday – I was kidnapped and tied to a
stool in front of a huge microphone in a radio studio. Well,
maybe not kidnapped … but certainly unexpectedly
detained.
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Let me back up. There’s a radio group in town - Combined
Communications - where a number of their reporters/
crew members have been affected by cancer. Two of
them, Dave Adams and Kathy Cullis, had the idea to
host a weekly series dedicated to cancer issues
called "Take Five." They have both been very candid
on microphone about their cancer experience – in
Kathy’s case, her reaction when she learned there
was a recurrence and in Dave’s case, the importance
of prayer and his faith when blind-sided by a tumor
finding. |
I wanted to give them each a book because of what they are
going through and to highlight some of the folks in our
community who were giving back because of cancer. OK, OK ... and
just maybe they would mention our book and Web site on
the air (shameless promotion).
So I wrote a note and tucked it into one of the books, and
then rubber-banded them together with the intent of dropping
them off at the front desk of the radio station. At the last
minute, I thought to ask the receptionist if Kathy or Dave were
available.
As it turned out, they had time to see me. I told them
about Gary’s cancer and our cancer team and why I wrote
the book. Kathy turned to Dave and said, “That sounds like our
next segment.”
This is the part where they tied me up, set me on a stool,
thrust a humongous microphone in my face, and then Dave lied to
me: “We’re just going to have a nice little chat here.”
My friend later told me that’s the best way to be
interviewed: You're not nervous beforehand; you’re in shock
during; and you don’t remember what you said afterward.
And that’s exactly how it was.
You can catch Kathy and Dave live
weekday mornings on News/Talk 1110 KBND!
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Sunday, November 9, 2008
Super colon
While battling Stage 4 colon cancer, Wendy laid out her
wishes to her husband, Al, and their closest friends – she
wanted a fund established to help pay for cancer education and
screenings for low-income and underinsured families.
In the past 2½ years, Al and friends have worked tirelessly
to reach the $50,000 mark to become an endowed fund of the St.
Charles Foundation. Part of my job is working with this group of
incredibly dedicated people.
One of their fundraisers is an annual Christmas craft
boutique that Wendy started 27 years ago. This past Friday and
Saturday, the boutique was hosted at the hospital
along with – get this – the
Super Colon, a traveling interactive,
inflatable 8’ tall colon that one can walk through.
It was sort of like being in Disneyland – guests entered
the hospital's south conference room door, were funneled through
the inflatable colon, and then flushed out (sorry) through the
east door into the thick of the boutique.
Al and the Wendy’s Wish story is one of the chapters in my
book, Cancer Adventures: Turning loss into triumph. A
book with the word cancer in the title isn’t exactly a
fit for a holiday craft boutique, but over 30 copies sold with
proceeds to benefit
Wendy’s
Wish – and it was my first taste of a book-signing!
I was struck, once again, by the generous spirit of Central
Oregonians as they filled shopping bags with beautiful pottery
and jewelry, fuzzy hand-knitted scarves and home-baked goodies
in support of the mission of Wendy’s Wish.
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Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thoughts on being
invisible
I had the strangest experience at Barnes & Noble the other
night. I was second in line at the café and the woman ahead of
me was a B&N employee. She was chatting with the girl behind the
cash register and taking her time, changing her mind about her
order. No big deal – I’m a patient person.
Then two men walked in and stood back several feet perusing
the overhead menu. The young man behind the counter asked if he
could get a drink started for them. My mouth dropped open. I
looked in surprise at the barista and then at the two men,
hoping they would be gentlemen enough to say, “I believe she was
in line ahead of us.” But none of them seemed to see me.
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Meanwhile, the B&N employee was putting away her change and
trying to figure out how to carry everything. I
shifted and moved forward a bit, trying to say with
my body language, “You can take my order now because
she’s just gathering up her things.” But the cash
register girl didn’t see me. She just kept chatting
with her co-worker.
By this time I’m not so patient anymore. I had the
strongest
urge to say out loud, “Hey, am I invisible here?!”
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Afterwards—after the cash register girl
charged me for the annual membership renewal fee but I only
wanted a Chai tea and so she had to call someone from somewhere
else in the store to erase the charge—I was glad I kept my
sarcastic remarks to myself.
When we’re in the middle of something that we perceive as
unfair, it’s a big deal. But with the passing of time, hopefully
we gain a wiser perspective. The incident made me think of how
many people in this world feel invisible most of the time – no
one sees them, no one cares. Especially the elderly (my kids
would probably say I fall into this category).
Being invisible at Barnes & Noble the other night inspired
me to take the time to really see people.
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Sunday, November 2, 2008
The speed of a turtle
November. The
month signaling the beginning of the winter holidays and my
favorite time of the year. But how can it be here already?!
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I'm taking a break
from
writing a business plan—one of those necessary evils—for
our newly-formed 501(c)(3). A
friend of mine who is a professional grant writer provided me
with a 32-page business plan template. (What are friends for?)
You can guess how I've spent the weekend.
We've
also connected with 4 of our first choice board
members - an oncologist; a consultant and past CFO
to Mars Candy and Bonne Belle; a retired Navy Seal
and instructor; and a president of a non-profit that
consults with inner-city organizations reaching out
to the homeless and addicts.
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All
good people. All high achievers that have been
affected by cancer in one way or another. All
willing to serve on our board and provide good,
solid leadership.
And so
we are slowly but surely moving in the direction of
our goals. Think turtle speed because nothing
ever happens as quickly as we'd like. But going in
the right direction is usually a good thing.
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