10/31/2025
You may be wondering if you read that right — is she really grateful she had breast cancer???
Yes, I am.
On this last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, my reason for writing is simple: get your mammogram. A mammogram saved both my sister’s life and mine. Neither of us would be here today without one.
My second reason is to encourage you to embrace life’s bu****it. Because if you’ve lived long enough, you know there’s plenty to go around.
We all face challenges. Maybe, like me, it’s illness. Or maybe it’s divorce, devastating loss, poverty, abuse, rejection... Whatever your “thing” is, I hope you’re either fighting like hell to work through it—or looking back on it with a big ol’ middle finger in the air. And when that moment comes, I hope you can turn that crappy situation on its head and walk forward with a new, hard-earned perspective.
That brings me back to celebrating my cancer journey. I’ve heard it said that bad things don’t happen to us, they happen for us. Cancer happened for me. And, strangely enough, a lot of beautiful things came out of those terrible years:
My children are resilient. They were young, and my cancer journey shaped their lives profoundly. They bore witness to my struggle and learned what it means to care for someone ailing.
My marriage is stronger. That incredible man I married rose to the challenge and took care of… everything. He proved that "in sickness and in health" wasn't an empty vow. We should all be so lucky.
I’m mentally calmer and stronger. When you’ve faced the big stuff, you stop sweating the small stuff. I now ask myself: Will this matter in a day, a week, a month, or a year? If it’s the first two, I let it go.
I’ve become more spiritual. I found beliefs that sustain me in ways I didn’t have before.
I have better coping mechanisms. Daily meditation is non-negotiable.
I know my priorities. Family. Friends. Work.
Now it’s your turn:
✨ What have you learned from your challenges?
✨ How have they shaped you?
✨ What beauty or strength emerged from the mess?
October is about awareness, yes—but it’s also about reflection, resilience, and celebrating the unexpected gifts hidden inside life’s hardest seasons.
