The Moment – So there it is. That moment. There is not much that you can physically do in that moment when you learn your diagnosis. A moment when your world is turned upside down. You really don’t know how you will react until that moment of truth arrives.

Quick story…A friend of mine is having dinner at Chinese restaurant with his 90-year-old grandma, she opened her fortune cookie and read it. “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” I’m not sure that nonagenarian left the restaurant with any plans to return.

Some googling led me to this, more relatable variation of that idea, from Maya Angelou: “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst and unsurprised by anything in between.” And I suppose that was my frame of mind, heading into the procedure that would identify the cause of my discomfort. It turns out that the human spirit is a complex intangible component of our makeup, one of enormous power and influence over those of our more physical parts. I found this out when, in that moment, through the anesthesia-induced post-op haze, as the Doc informed me of my malignancy I told him, “Let’s get on it.”

Celebrate JOY at every turn. Last evening, at dinner in the city with my newly engaged son and soon to be daughter-in-law! It lifts my heart to imagine the love and life that awaits them.

It is no coincidence and no surprise that all of these beautiful souls are at the core of my support.

As challenges go, posting a photo a day hardly seems to qualify. But I understand this is simply a motivator to help participants create a cadence of content that will help keep this vital cause top of mind throughout social media this month. If you choose to follow these posts, please understand that this is a journey of hope, one that I share with the intention that it might resonate with all who may be traveling this road. Even through the tallest reeds, the sun shines through.