The Sunny Side

It was a cold and rainy weekend. (No, this is not the first line line of a romance or mystery novel).

I used to look at these kind of days as unproductive, dreary and a waste of a day. But not anymore. Not after battling cancer and coming out on the sunny side, the side that is full life and not darkened by death. Every day is a good day. It is up to me to make it the best day ever.

Now some of you might say, "oh yeah, Mr. Sunshine! Well let me tell you about my crappy life!" I understand. Been there myself. I'm a cynic at heart. It's hard when you don't have a job, the bills are piling up and then it rains all weekend and all you have is the TV or the confines of your house. It's easy to wallow in self pity, look for someone to "make it all better" for you or bitch and complain about how tough you have it. Let me tell you something, we all have stuff to deal with that makes life challenging. And who is to say my problems are worse than your problems?

cancer has a way of bringing out the best of you when you live through it. I'm sure there are cancer survivors who would disagree with me––I've posted this before––but cancer turned the viewfinder around on me. The emotional side effects from cancer have actually made me stronger. Made me appreciate the smile on Teresa's face. The laughter of my children. The hugs from my Grandkids. Make me stop and hear the wind blowing through the trees and watch the leaves come cascading down to the ground. I choose to thank a higher power every day I wake up. Because it's a new day of opportunity. A new day to give thanks to those who have helped me through the cancer course that was trying to kill me. So even though the weekend was somewhat of a washout, I had a great weekend.

I'm alive.

Thanks

For my Wife.

For my Children, Adam, Ryan, Travis & Kaity.

For Lucas & Eli.

For family.

For my Mom, Dad, Angie, Wanda, Shan, Chris, Jeff and Marina.

For the God given ability to think.

For the little things.

For having a good job. (Any job, for that matter).

For having the strength to beat cancer. Twice.

For making the right decisions at the right time.

For having the intuition that I knew I had cancer––even before my diagnosis.

For good people to work with.

For best friends––Fred, Ben, Ted, Larry, Francis, Tom, & Jim.

For the opportunity to be there for others who are battling cancer.

For the love I receive every day.

For remembering all the pain––physical, emotional & mental––from my treatment.

For never forgetting how fragile life really is.

For having a new perspective.

For JB, Cap, Stevie Ramone, Andy, Lisa, Marcia, Rob, Paul, VW, Ally, Aimee, Jill, Leah, Chris, Juanita, Reem, JP, Richard, Kristin––KS & KF––Rachel, Nancy, the whole CS/DI and Sheri, who really is an angel.

For those who are fighting for our freedom.

For being alive to write this today.

Happy Thanksgiving.