Today, June 7, it National Cancer Survivors Day and it’s the 22nd annual Cancer Survivors Day. According to the Cancer Survivors website ,

National Cancer Survivors Day is held annually in hundreds of communities throughout the world on the first Sunday in June. It is a symbolic event to demonstrate that life after a cancer diagnosis can be a reality.

The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation defines a “survivor” as anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life. National Cancer Survivors Day affords your community an opportunity to demonstrate that it has an active, productive cancer survivor population.

It’s too late for this year, but you can organize an event in your community next year. The site offers you an event planning kit for this.

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Image: iStock

Post from: Blisstree

June 7: National Cancer Survivors Day

Elizabeth Edwards' new book will be released May 8

My mind moved with my body in tow through the distance of two rooms, to the open doorway of the bedroom where my mother used to sleep. The bed was empty and I heard my father through the bathroom door. He was retching. It was an awful sound, low and monotone, and I sobbed there, like a baby, on the hallway floor because life was supposed to be different for us.  

(My father tells me now he did not throw up. He was brushing his teeth and sometimes when he brushes his tongue he gags himself and makes that horrible retching sound. I’d rather believe the news of Mom’s death made him sick to his stomach because it’s more endearing that way. But, whatever.)

As idiotic as it sounds, when I read the reports of Elizabeth Edward’s interview on Oprah (scheduled for Thursday), and how she spoke about her husband’s affair, I understood when she said her reaction to her husband’s confession was to cry, scream and vomit. It brought me back to that day, when my mother died and my father threw up, because life had changed forever and ever.

And sometimes you just don’t want it to change. 

John Edwards broke my heart, too. He was supposed to be my president. I had chosen him before 2004, before he played second fiddle to John Kerry. And I was a bigger supporter when he ran again in 2008. I read a story in the New York Times magazine how he would serve as a champion to the underprivileged because, though he is insanely wealthy now, he hails from a humble background. I saw visions of Robert Kennedy in him. He was my candidate; (although my son was determined Obama would win). When Edwards withdrew just before Super Tuesday, so did I, temporarily.

I respected his love for his wife. And she won me over by being solid and loyal. There is no denying he is the more attractive of the two, but he seemed to look beyond that. And when the rumors began to circulate that John was having an affair, I refused to believe them because the John I know is good and honest and loves his wife with a passion – his cancer-survivor wife. The one who hid the lump in her breast as Kerry gave his concession speech to the world.

I don’t blame her for sticking with him, for trying to hold tight to that life she knew before the affair. But life is changed forever for her, like it changed more than a decade ago when her oldest son tragically died, and again in 2004, when she discovered she had breast cancer. Life rarely goes as expected. It sends you to great highs and treacherous lows. How one manages to hold on during those times and keep her sanity says a lot about a person.

I think that must be the value of being Resilient.

Photo, Barnes & Noble

Post from: Blisstree

In Defense of Elizabeth Edwards

Who saw Randy Pausch’s interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC last night?

It is phenomenal what effect one professor’s lecture has had on the entire world.

My prevailing emotion was gratitude.

The most surprising emotion was envy. I envied the romance in his life.

Then came resolution. I resolve to live my life in a more present way. I’ve been making a concerted effort to be present in my life of late – this lecture gives me even more motive.

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of people say “the planet is experiencing an awakening right now.” I hope it’s true, and I’m loving the experience.

Did you see the interview? What were your prevailing emotions? Are you experiencing an awakening?

Post from: Blisstree

The Last Lecture

Did anyone see Crazy Sexy Cancer on TLC? It’s a self-portrait documentary about when 31-year-old actress/photographer Kris Carr was diagnosed with cancer. She takes us brilliantly and eloquently through her journey to try to figure out how she got cancer and how she tries, virtually anything, to heal her body.

I thought it was a brilliant piece of art. It was so beautiful and yes, somehow sexy. It almost made me want to be Kris Carr, except for the cancer part. Man, I really, really pray this chick lives forever using her voice to empower cancer survivors.

If you or someone you know is diagnosed with cancer, or any other illness really, buy the book Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips, Skirt Publication’s, first. There is only hope to be found there. What a way to use your voice, to empower women diagnosed with cancer Kris.  Check your city to hear Kris speak on a Crazy Sexy Tour .  Kris even has a blog worth reading.

Post from: Blisstree

Crazy Sexy Cancer