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

Letter To My Benefactor

March 8, 2018

Letter #44 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, I’ve been a bad girl. I have not hiked since November when I conquered the Waihe Ridge Trail in Maui. I told you all about it in my last letter to you. You see, I’ve been super sad. My uncle has Stage IV lung cancer. It happened super fast. In fact, I just […]

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November 25, 2017

Letter #43 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, Guess what? I finally went for another hike. Maui, this time. It took Ken and me about two hours to get to the top in the burning hot sun. In case you want the details, the Waihee Ridge Trail is 2.1 miles up with a 1563-foot elevation gain. In other words, it was freaking hard. For me, anyway. […]

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November 17, 2017

Letter #42 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, The last time I wrote you, I mentioned that Ken and I were going camping with some friends on the other side of the mountains (with our new RV) and I would try to go hiking, using those boots you bought me. Remember how I also mentioned my fear of rattlesnakes? Someone in […]

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August 6, 2017

Letter #41 To My Benefactor

Benefactor! Benefactor! Benefactor! So much stuff has been happening around here, I hardly know where to start. I definitely have not been having any extra time to wallow around feeding into my survivor’s guilt. First of all, I told you (in my last letter to you) that I would go hiking again soon, and I […]

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July 9, 2017

Letter #40 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, Another reason I have not gone hiking recently is because I have been doing mundane things like going to the dentist. On Friday, I arrived at my teeth-cleaning appointment promptly at 8:00. I sat in the chair, waiting for the procedure to start. I admit, getting your teeth cleaned is better than having […]

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July 6, 2017

Letter #39 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, I cannot believe that the last time I wrote you was December 14, 2016. It’s not like I’ve been sitting around on my couch all winter and spring watching Netflix every day (and thereby not having the time to write you). Admittedly, I haven’t been spending my time hiking either. I’ve been gardening […]

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December 14, 2016

Letter #38 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, I’ve been a bad, bad girl. Not naughty so much, but I haven’t used the hiking boots you bought me for so long. I think the last hiking I did was the jaunt over the Bruce Trail on September 10. Since then, the only “hiking” I’ve managed to do is every morning from […]

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October 25, 2016

Letter #37 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, In my last letter to you, I told you that I was going to make sure to take my Keens with me on the next vacation. Well, one week after I came home from Toronto, I was on another airplane headed for Southern California. In fact, I am writing you this letter from […]

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October 25, 2016

Letter #36 To My Benefactor

Dear Benefactor, I just wanted to tell you that for the first vacation ever, I left those wonderful Keens you paid for at home; my husband and I were going to visit family in Toronto, Canada, and I figured we wouldn’t have time to do any hiking. Sure enough, the first day we were there—the […]

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Marie de Haan

Marie de Haan
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