Thursday, August 23, 2012

Calm After the Storm

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes from fellow breast cancer warrior, Elizabeth Edwards. Life is full of storms. From hurricanes all the way down to the small rain shower, we have all found ourselves in the midst of something that threatens the safety, security, and foundation we have built our lives on. Going through life, we all have a basic outline as to how we want our lives to play out. Sometimes these storms come out of nowhere and into our lives, like a thunderstorm in the summer.

Breast cancer was a full-blown, unwelcomed monsoon that came into my life with no warning. All of the sudden I found myself standing in the middle of this storm, wondering which way I should go. How do I get out of this storm? Where can I take cover? I couldn’t run. I had to face it head on and ride it out, doing whatever I had to do to keep myself safe and protected. I did what I had to do to save my life – surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and more surgery. Those were all part of the storm, waves that I had to swim through to get to the other side.

Now that I am through my “storm of the decade,” I have perspective on what I went through. I adjusted my sails in the storm and chose a new route. This new route I am on is so much more fulfilling. It’s full of love, selflessness, and compassion. One of the best things to come from this storm, has been the ability to work for The Ellie Fund. The Ellie Fund was my umbrella through my storm, keeping me dry and protected. I have now made a life of doing as much good in the world as I can. It feels good. I love the new route I am on and wouldn’t trade it for anything right now.

This week marks the 5th anniversary of my very last radiation treatment which wrapped up the active treatment phase of my cancer journey. The two pictures below were taken exactly 5 years apart...one from that summer 5 years ago and one from this summer.


Here we are in August 2007:
Collin is so little at just 8 months old and Jeffrey is 3.
And here we are in August 2012:
Collin is 5 1/2 and Jeffrey is 8.












 To everyone who's helped us get to this point: Thanks and Cheers to the next five years!
Anne Meisner (anne@elliefund.org)

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