Big blessings

This is November, a month when we are reminded to count our blessings and be thankful for them. My biggest blessing is my husband Tim. He has been my rock to cling to when through the years waves came crashing and my number one fan ever supportive of all my endeavors. This week I was reminded of how much I need him as I prayed for him as he was in surgery under general anesthesia. The Lord answered all my prayers and those from family and friends with a successful procedure and little pain after. He is cleared to go for walks, but has to wait on bike riding for a few weeks. Now if we can just get out of the discharge area...

Is anybody out there? Does anybody really care?

I am still here. I started this blog when I first moved to Florida. I thought it would be a kind of journal of the good life God has given Tim and me. Life is still good, still loving Florida, but I forget to put into words my gratitude or even update with pictures here. I guess if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you know what I am doing, so no need to come here to read my thoughts. As I was looking through my photos I found this one of the different ribbons there are to symbolize all the different cancers.

In 2008 when they found I had gallbladder cancer, there were probably 10 or so colors listed and gall bladder wasn't even named. It came in a category called "other" with a black ribbon. I was told at the time it was a very rare form of cancer. Rarer still was the fact that my brother also had gallbladder cancer. He died in November of that year. Now I see the color kelly green is for gallbladder cancer. I like kelly green, reminds me of the luck of the Irish. October was breast cancer awareness month and there is much publicity about those who succumbed or survived it. My friend's daughter died at the age of 35 from an agressive form of it. I must remember to thank my Lord that I caught my cancer early, unlike my brother. I also see that the black ribbon is for melanoma, and ironically I had that, too. Again early detection helped that get taken care of, thanks to the keen eye of that same friend I mentioned before. Unfortunately, her brother died of melanoma a few years earlier. So why are there so many colors now? Is it that these cancers are becoming more common? I hope not. Is it because those who have had cancer touch them want to wear a more specific color than black? I get that. Sometimes during the month of October I feel like telling people, "Hey, there's more cancer out there than just breast cancer!" Instead what I should do is use it to glorify God, for helping me survive, for giving me such a good friend, and for the hope of heaven for all those who fall victim to cancer here on Earth.