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A Humorous Look at the Bright Side of Cancer... and There Is One

June 11, 2013

Living Life To The Fullest

06_11_2013_flowers_celebrating_life_cancer_funnyLast week, I called one of my friends, Heidi. It had been a long time.

“So, you’re feeling good then, hey?” she asked me.

I almost answered with my typical, “I’m tired all the time… not back to my regular self… that chemotherapy destroyed me—in addition to saving my life—and….” but at the last minute, I changed tack.

“I’m feeling great,” I answered her cheerfully.

“You still so busy?”

“Yes, piano lessons, writing books, public speaking, now the garden stand. I’m crazy, but I love all of these things.”

After we hung up, I got back to my dishes. They weren’t going to hop up out of the dishwater, rinse themselves, and hike back to the cupboard where they belonged.

I thought about what Heidi had said as I rinsed yet another plate. Yes, I was crazy busy and should probably cut something out, but I couldn’t help myself: I’m alive.

I thought back to my chemotherapy days when I kept thinking to myself over and over, “I say ‘no’ faster, but I also say ‘yes’ faster.”

I think I still tend to do that. For example, on Facebook the other day, I saw that someone was looking for an exchange student host. Normally (before cancer) I would have pursued that. Now? I’m most emphatically going to say “no.”

I’m going to say “yes” to taking care of my family, running Wayside Wisteria, writing books, encouraging others that are going through cancer treatment right now (that call me at home), and gearing up for our new kitchen. Is that selfish? To want to do all those things? And not take care of the Japanese exchange students?

I think not. A person can only give what a person can give. When they can give it.

So, right now, I’m going to go out in the yard, sit among the flowers, and be thankful that I’m able to live my life to the fullest.

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Marie de Haan

Marie de Haan

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