If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

If April showers bring May flowers what do Mayflowers bring?

Pilgrims

(Laugh track plays)

Thanks folks you’re too kind I’ll be here all night.

Corny jokes aside, this May I really am planting seeds and watching things bloom.

First on the list of seeds planted, on May 5th I’ll have the honor of delivering the keynote member address at Gilda’s Club Westchester’s 16th Annual Gala being held at the Botanical Gardens. (more…)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

I am a known Prince super fan. Within hours of his passing last week I received half a dozen calls and texts from friends and family to see if I was OK.  I was not unaffected by the news of  Prince’s death, but it didn’t have the impact on me that seemed expected.  Although I am a dedicated Paisley Parker, I didn’t cry about the news of Prince’s death. I didn’t even pause for a moment in his purple honor.  What made my heart stop was the realization that I could not mourn with my partner in all things Prince, my childhood bff, Roni . (more…)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

I had almost everything I needed and wanted. Or at least that’s  what I believed before  I was diagnosed.  From my current perspective I can see the word “almost”  in that sentence was a self imposed barrier to actually having it all, which is what I said I wanted.  Even the phrase “having it all” makes having more than enough a shortcoming.  I no longer see having it all as a worthwhile ambition.  Having just enough is not my goal either.  I respect the minimalist movement but I’m still more comfortable living beyond what is necessary.   I prefer a little fat to bare bones.  It’s the excess wanting that I am trying to get rid of. The redundancy of collecting stuff is getting to be too much.   (more…)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

It occurs to me that a lot of my writing about cancer takes me to my experience with epilepsy as child. I didn’t have support groups, social workers, or websites to turn to for guidance back then so I journaled and wrote poetry as a way to process all that I was living through. I remember being offered profiles of epileptic heroes.  People like Harriet Tubman, and Julius Cesar were held up as examples of how people with epilepsy could go on to great things.

(more…)

If you prefer listening to reading an audio version is available below the text

April is National Poetry Month.  I thought this month it would fun to share some of the poetry I wrote in the past. It surprises me how relevant some of the poems I wrote way before my diagnosis are to my cancer journey. I guess you’re never really separate from your past. The poem below is still a favorite even though as I mature I recognize it’s a bit trite.  When I wrote it I recall that I thought it was profound, as perhaps the most simple and widely used ideas are. (more…)