The One in Which I Tell You How Beautiful You Are

If you have been following my blog, you know that Steven and I went on a river cruise down the Seine in the beginning of April. I've left out a little detail that I've been wanting to write about, and now seems like the time.

I met a woman about my age the first day of the cruise - traveling alone and just gotten off another 14 day cruise! Her name was "Candy", and she had a little, spikey pixie cut in platinum blond. She socialized with the other passengers, but seemed very comfortable to be sitting alone, too. In fact, she often sat in the lounge area, alone, listening to the musical entertainment and...knitting. But knitting with a yarn/material that I'd never seen before. It was more like trim in a lovely wine colored string with metallic edging.

Wear Gray for May - Brain Cancer Awareness Month, Day 11 - American Brain Tumor Association

I remember I told you that I didn't bring a wig at all for this cruise - wanted to be bald and proud! - but I was cold most of the time, so I often had a hat on, even inside. <----probably one of the most annoying day-to-day side effects of cancer and/or my meds...It doesn't help that I have hardly any hair on my head!) I don't know if Candy thought I was embarrassed by my baldness, but one of the first days she came up to me, held my hands in hers, looked me in the eyes with the most intense, earnest look and declared, "You are beautiful. Don't ever forget you are beautiful."  I stammered, "Thank you." of course, but I was caught off guard. I think she may have thought my brain cancer had really affected my speech. We hugged, and she was off again to be her unique Candy self. Where ever you are Candy, you rock!

Candy and I sat together in the lounge sometimes during the cruise- especially when Steven was doing his wine presentations. (She really like the wine! lol!) I never asked her any probing questions. like why she was traveling alone or if she had experience with cancer...I figured if she wanted me to know, she would volunteer the information. I wonder still today about her adorable pixie hair cut - Was that a decision that came after a battle with cancer like me?

The day before the cruise was ending, she came up on me unexpectedly again. She had her knitting in her hands - only she has transformed it into this:

I am wearing it in the picture above - with NO HAT, Candy! - but the lighting is better here.

She said, "This is for you. Only on one condition: you never wear a hat with it. I want it to remind you of how beautiful you are." Once again, I was speechless, but with tears in my eyes this time. I was overwhelmed by her thoughtful and kind gesture. I knew how many hours she had spent working on this scarf, and I was honored that she would give it to me. Yes, it was a beautiful scarf, but the real beauty was right there in front of me: Candy. A kind, selfless act from a practical stranger.

I've heard from other cancer warriors what this is one of the positive things about their affliction: that they discover how many beautiful people there are out there - (That's got to be one of the best parts of having brain cancer <---Can you imagine starting a sentence like that? 7 months ago,  I sure couldn't) - so many kind, selfless acts over the months since I've been diagnosed, I can't even begin to name them. I told Steven I wanted to send thank you notes to everyone that have lifted us up during this challenging time, but I was so out-of-it in the beginning, how do I go back that far and begin? I know I would forget some people and feel badly. He said I was ridiculous, and that nobody could expect us to do that.

But I want some way to convey the gratitude for every beautiful person out there (Kiddies, that means all of you!) , whether you sent me a card or an email or a squirrel or bracelet...or dropped by dinner in the early weeks (you have no idea how much that helped our family!). The donations to our Family Medical Fund and more recently the donations to our American Cancer Society, Relay for Life Team. Comments written on Facebook and here...and all the pictures of people Wearing Gray for May to increase awareness of Brain Tumors. Steven and I attended the Livermore Valley Wine Auction this weekend, and so many people came up to me to hug me and offer their prayers...(Phew! It's a good thing you can't see the tears rolling down my cheeks right now...)

Dinner at Wente with Super Schmoopy AKA the Bald Hottie at the Livermore Wine Auction

Believe me: every little gesture of support means so much to me and my family. This disease has unexpectedly opened my eyes to how many beautiful people there are in the world. What a gift. So, thank you, Candy, and all the other beautiful people out there. I would send a handwritten card to each and every one of you, but I'm playing the #cancercard right now. #freepass This is my handwritten card just for you.

Love, June Xoxoxo #mfbcfnw

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P.S. The only thing more beautiful than you is my granddaughter, Autumn Elizabeth. #sorrynotsorry

Autumn with "Mimi", the stuffed animal "Grandpa Steven" picked out for her in a little toy store in Paris.

P.P.S. FYI: We are already booked to do another river cruise in 2016 down the Rhone. Click on this link - Ama Waterways <---- if you are interested in joining us! If you don't know where the Rhone is, Google that Shit. Whoops, I almost made it through a whole blog post without cursing!

The One in Which I Explain What the #MFBCFNW is Fighting FOR not AGAINST

A couple months ago, when I started to venture out on the interwebs, seeking out like-minded Brain Cancer Survivors, I stumbled across the wonderful blog, The Brain Chancery, which I've shared with you before. And poking around on his site, I discovered an entry that really made me think. And the same issue has come up for me many times as I read other survivors blogs, tweets, etc.

First of all: I have to say that every cancer survivor is on his/her own journey. And I'm in NO WAY judging anyone that is taking a different path. Everyone has to figure out what is right for them - physically, mentally, spiritually...

But I felt like I connected with so much of the attitude and thinking of this guy, Chad, that he really made me take pause with his entry: We Need to Talk: It's About Brandon. Kiddies, I could tell you nothing about it and force you to read it yourself. But I know some of you are lazy busy, and won't get around to it. And it's really at the heart of what I want to say today -   So, I'll give you a little Cliff Notes version here:

Chad jokes about naming his cancer "Brandon", but he gets at a more serious topic of the tendency to anthropomorphize (Dang! That was a hard word for me to say before my brain tumor!) CANCER itself.   Kiddies, "anthropomorphizing" is when you give a human form or personality to something that is not human.  For example:

Like when we have animals act like humans in cartoons and such...

This phenomenon is very common in the Cancer Community. We hear and see things like: "I hate cancer!" and "Cancer sucks!" And I'm not saying that it is a wrong approach. I'm just saying that I tend to agree with Chad with Brain Chancery that it feels a bit silly...
or maybe not silly, but.... unhelpful(?) to me. Because CANCER is just random fucking cells that are doing what they do. There's no reason it's happening. They aren't "out to get me." So, it seems (to me) like a colossal waste of time and energy to spend being raging pissed of them and focusing my attention on them.

Which brings me to my next point... 
(I know what you're thinking...)
So, June! Why are you calling yourself a Ninja Warrior? And more specifically a Mother Fuckin' Brain Cancer Fighting Ninja Warrior? (#mfbcfnw) Huh? HUH?

So, I feel like I need to clear up the confusion. I use the Ninja Warrior persona to represent my Inner Super Hero Self who can call upon the powers within me to fight. But I'm not fighting against cancer. I'm fighting for my LIFE.

As a Ninja Warrior, I'm calling upon all of the tools in my MIND/BODY/SPIRIT to find balance...reason...patience...peace, love...joy...hope...every mother fuckin' weapon in my arsenal ---
whatever I need at that moment to fight for my life. But notice that my "weapons" are positive.
So, yes, I'm fighting brain cancer because that's what's standing between me and life. but I'm not spending my days swinging numchucks at effigies of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells (although it's fun to imagine it at times...)

You probably noticed that all the ninja stars I create have positive messages on them. Yesterday, the one I held during my first post-treatment MRI said: Hope and Joy on one side and #beinthepresent on the other. (and of courses, #mfbcfnw) Even the cursing and the "RAWWWR!ing" are my expressions of power, not anger. Does that make sense?

My mom gave me that adorable little pocket-size ninja! Thanks, Mom!

 Maybe it doesn't work for someone else - but I believe, for ME, the real BADASS powers lie in the positive! And this #MFBCFNW is going to keep using them to FIGHT FOR MY LIFE!

The real power is looking at life's challenges and saying, You know what? I'm going to
LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE for as long as I can and not waste my time focused on the stuff that I:
1) can't control.
2) don't add meaning/joy/happiness to my life.

Carry on, my fellow Ninja Warriors! Go forth, and be BADASS!

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P.S. I just found and read another entry from Brain Chancery about this subject, and I'm convinced that we are twins separated at birth - except he's 11 years younger than me. But why quibble?