National Cancer Survivors Day!

In my very lame attempt to grab your attention again and return your interest in my blog, I am taking advantage of today to catch you up on the last... few months? Bear with me and I promise over the next couple of weeks I will make it worth your while.

Today is National Cancer Survivor's Day. I didn't even know that it was a 'thing' until last year when Derick and I stumbled across a celebration for cancer survivors in the Cancer Survivor park (which I also did not know was a 'thing') on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. I'm not even sure how I feel about celebrating it to be honest. I wonder if other survivors feel the same as me... as far as I'm concerned, EVERY DAY is cancer survivors day!! If I wake up in the morning and live another day, it's a day to celebrate!! So what's the deal with this day? I thought seriously about doing some research on the history, but I decided that my time is better spent updating all you before life gets nuts again. (did it ever stop??) I will celebrate even if I don't know how this day came to be tagged "National Cancer Survivor Day" because...why wouldn't I?? It's another day to live, another day to celebrate, and a day to recognize the MANY incredible people I know who have survived cancer. You know who you are and YOU ARE STRONG!!!! So there.

So then, what did we do to celebrate today?

This morning, Derick and I headed to Lawrence to cheer and support our friend, Adam and his fiance, Sarah, in the Legend Free State Triathlon. Adam has never done a triathlon before and chose a 1/2 Ironman distance for his first crack at it. He's a bit of a freak of nature...able to accomplish pretty much any athletic feat. It was a fantastic day with our incredible friends, Jim and Debbie, and the Adam/Sarah parental units. Amazing people and a super fun day filled with sightings of several good friends fighting the intense heat to get the job done. It is so inspirational to see so many people out working hard to take care of themselves and accomplish their goals. Men, women, young adults...all shapes and sizes. I miss the race scene and hope that next year holds some races for me.

Why not this year? Why not ANY year since the nasty cancer business?

I have no answer for that. I've been full of excuses and fear to push my body too hard. I'm getting soft and I'm over it. I'm giving myself the rest of this year to focus on family, work, and most importantly, the residual health issues that have been nagging me over the past couple of years and then it's ON! As far as these 'health issues', stay tuned. My docs aren't worried, but we've been running lots of tests to figure out what exactly is going on with this bod. I promise a new post over the next couple of weeks when we have some results.

In the meantime, hug a Cancer Survivor today.


xo
Shelley