Survivor's Blog- February 14, 2014- Remembering those I have lost to cancer....

As many of you may already know, I drew the cancer card in the family. I have no family history of Ovarian Cancer or any cancer really. My cousin, Mike, was the only family member I am aware of who passed from cancer. His cancer does not really count as family history though, since his cancer was a result of the anti rejection drugs he had to take for his kidney transplant. Despite that, I feel as if the last thirty years have been incredibly hard on my friends and the people who are closest to me with regard to cancer.

I lost my first friend to it when we were both 17 and only a couple weeks out of high school. It was a big shock because, Valerie B. and I had been friends since kindergarten. More recently, I lost Wally Comer, the man who was my adopted Dad, best friend, and mentor. Then we lost Oscar's wonderful father, OJ, then Mrs. Fogle ( who was Bonnie's Mother- in - law).  I also lost Carol T., who was the closest friend I had here in South Carolina. And then to my dismay my beloved best friend and Cousin, Mike D., also passed from cancer. Six months after Mike's death, I had to make a call home and tell my family that I too had cancer!

All of these people were incredible people. Each one of them taught me how to hold your head up and walk tall in the world. Mike taught me perseverance and tenacity and Wally showed me how to live each moment with joy!

Every once in a while, I get a chance to remember these folks and honor them. Just before the holidays, I had a chance to write an article for the ACVRC, ( short for the American Cancer Victim's Rights Campaign). I chose to write the article in honor of Wally Comer.

Here it is if you would like to take a look and see what I have been up to:

http://cancervictimsrights.org/?s=wally+comer