February 26, 2012

Tempting Thyme sounds like it should be tantalizing your taste buds with wonderful flavors and seasonings. True, I put the spin on the word thyme for my joy of cooking, especially baking.  But the name signifies so much more.

Three years ago today, I sat in my son’s elementary school parking lot, and with 5 minutes to spare decided to call the radioligists office to get my biopsy results.  Am I ever thankful that I had a task at hand, had to stay focused as I was given the news that no one wants to hear, you have breast cancer.

Five months after the initial diagnosis, I was officially declared in remission.  Friends say I was inspirational… but I didn’t feel that way.

I knew that if I didn’t keep things together that I would have fallen apart emotionally, and I could not let my kids see that.  I plowed through the process, trying to keep it as private as possible.  I am sure wearing a bandana blew my cover on occasion, but I swear there are still people in this small college town who still don’t know what I went through.  That is the way I wanted it, and still do!

The song Bounce, by Bon Jovi, became my theme song.  Love it still today.  Climbing every Mountain, by Miley Cyrus, became my kids song as they individually had to process what was going on with their mom.

My sister says I still haven’t processed my illness, and haven’t come to terms with it.  Why me, my kids are too young, blah blah blah blah blah!!  She is right on so many levels, but I did what I had to do in that moment of time, day after day.  Three years ago I started a journal, even started a blog Bouncing through Cancer…although it only had 3 entries in it before one of K’s baseball games took my attention away from it.  Life has a way of doing that to a person.  It might even still be out there in cyberspace…….  www.bouncingthroughcancer.blogspot.com . I learned who my friends are (also learned you can’t be in your bathrobe at 9pm at night, as you didn’t know who was going to pop over to give you a hug…love you Steph), and who turned out NOT to be a true friend.  It even amazes me what family members surrounded me with love and support, and those I didn’t see until the process was over and I looked like myself again.

What cancer did do for me was give me a new appreciation for LIFE!  I took a lot of things for granted, and I will be honest…..I still do at times!  There is a very small part of me that says everyone should have to go through cancer (as long as we can ALL be survivors), just to appreciate what you have!  Don’t sweat the small stuff will be my mantra daily!

Every day is a miracle!  At any moment our lives could be taken away from us, especially when we are least expecting it.  Hence, my blog name of Tempting Thyme.

ST

*** But if “I’m Gonna Love You Through This”, by Martina McBride, comes on the radio….please look away from me, as that song still makes me cry like a baby as soon as the first lyric is heard!