SUNRISE - December 5, 2011

December 5, 2011 - Sunrise 6:57 a.m.

“Don’t let the darkness of the past cover the brightness of your future.  Your future is in your control and it starts now.”

SUNRISE - October 25, 2011

October 25, 2011 Sunrise 6:59 a.m.

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time"  Winston Churchill

SUNRISE - July 23, 2011

July 23, 2011 Sunrise 6:00 a.m.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."
- C. S. Lewis

SUNRISE -May 29, 2011

May 29, 2011 Sunrise 5:44 am

 “There are whole years for which I hope I'll never be cross-examined, for I could not give an alibi.”  ~Mignon McLaughlin

SUNRISE - February 9,2011

February 9, 2011 Sunrise 7:03 am

 Go for it now.  The future is promised to no one.  ~Wayne Dyer

Tomorrow is the big trip for Sarah to travel to Anaheim on a charter bus with her school orchestra to play on stage at Disneyland.  She is very excited as am I for the opportunity to see her participate in this grand adventure. 


I am grateful for the opportunity to see it.  


The third person from my Tonsil Cancer forum that was about 2.5 years out from treatment, was diagnosed also with Lung Cancer.  Seems like an unfair follow-up to feeling like you beat this thing and then get whacked when you were off guard.


One must maintain a certain sense of humor at what life decides to throw at you.


“Most people think life sucks, and then you die. Not me. I beg to differ. I think life sucks, then you get cancer, then your dog dies, your wife leaves you, the cancer goes into remission, you get a new dog, you get remarried, you owe ten million dollars in medical bills but you work hard for thirty-five years and you pay it back and then -- one day -- you have a massive stroke, your whole right side is paralyzed, you have to limp along the streets and speak out of the left side of your mouth and drool but you go into rehabilitation and regain the power to walk and the power to talk and then -- one day -- you step off a curb at Sixty-seventh Street, and BANG you get hit by a city bus and then you die. Maybe.” - Denis Leary

SUNRISE - January 30, 2011

January 30, 2011 Sunrise 7:13 am

"Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?"

...Tim McGraw

I have had people say to me, after I (in detail) described the six month endurance run through Hell to keep Cancer at bay (you only get the Iron Man/Woman title after you make it through), that they wouldn't go through that.  They said they would just let the Devil take its course.  

Recently, my seventh grade daughter got "called up" to the big high school orchestra because of her skill with the cello (Principal Chair/Cello for the Intermediate School Orchestra), for a tour bus trip to Disneyland, to perform on stage and cut a CD this coming Friday. Is Dad taking a vacation day, driving ten hours down to Anaheim, buying a day pass to Disneyland, and stand in the front row at the concert with the movie camera?  Absolutely! 

This will be a Golden Moment I would not have had, if I had chosen the weaker course of action in 2008 and not gotten fitted for my custom claustrophobia mask, had two months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

Will this cherished Golden Moment extend beyond me?  Absolutely.  My gift to my daughter, from all of this, will be her being able to look up from her music stand, on stage in front of a huge crowd in Disneyland (she is still young enough to know this is way cooler than Carnegie Hall), smiling at her Dad beaming with pride, and actually SEE me in the front row of her momentous concert, rather than having to say "I wish Dad could have been here to see this.  He would have loved it."

rlw

* excerpt from a longer post at 'Another Day in Paradise'

SUNRISE - January 25, 2011

January 25, 2011 Sunrise 7:17 am

“Time flies and draws us with it. The moment in which I am speaking is already far from me”. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

I heard two Cancer stories today, I probably have heard similar stories for years, but until you are in the middle of the equations, the stories don’t seem to stick like they do now.  The first was how someone's relative was living Cancer free for five years post treatment when the Cancer came back with a vengeance and she was gone in about three months.  The second is an internet acquaintance on a Cancer forum – just passed the seven-year mark Cancer-free and going strong. 

Both stories involve TIME.  One got five more years and one received seven years and counting. 

Yesterday was 1111 days since Cancer diagnosis and the time has flown by.  Oddly, I do find myself measuring my allotted time in little innocuous ways such as how quickly the week passes because my weekly pill dispenser is empty and has to be filled again so soon. I think, between the time I filled it and a week later – what have I accomplished, what progress towards my goals have I made and/or what mark have I made?  Sometimes satisfactory - sometimes not.

Another TIME measure – my musical rock debut is in 95 days.  The last undone wish.  My 20 minutes of Rock-n-Roll fame. Practice - Practice - Practice.

Today’s gratitude:  the sense of hearing (should get even better when I get my new hearing aid next week) and love of music.  I have also noticed there are very few sounds (other than the distant freeway) at dawn.

rlw

SUNRISE - January 24, 2011

January 24, 2011 Sunrise 7:17 am

"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it". • M Scott Peck 

Today is 1111 days since I was diagnosed with Tonsil Cancer.  Wow.  What a long strange trip it has been (apologies to the Grateful Dead).


I had an opportunity to exchange emails today with a fellow Tonsil Cancer patient, about to begin his journey this week.  Some days it seems like it was just a few months ago when this phase of my life began.  Some days it seems surreal, like a dream/nightmare and that it never really happened.


What is the value of the miracle of a Sunrise?  What is the value of watching and listening intently, as your beautiful daughter plays wondrous music on her cello?  What is the value of glancing up to see love in the eyes of your soul mate?


I am truly a very rich man, indeed.  One thousand, one hundred, eleven days - 1111.  There is a good omen in there somewhere.

rlw