If you're given a gift....

 ...you must run with it. And EVERY day.....IS.....a gift.  It is your chance, your obligation, your debt...to those who didn't get one.

You only have to be alive for about ten minutes before you realize that this world can dish out some unfair crazy crap that really, really sucks.  But, so what?  Right after that, you will be given a rainbow.  I promise.

Now before you start smirking and raising your eyebrows...NO!  I am not going to tell you..."I am so glad I got cancer. It changed my life in beautiful ways."  Absolutely not!  Melanoma has been a pain in the ass, and other places...for ALL the people in my life...not just me.  It has not been fun. It has cost me time and treasure.  It has caused worry and stress. However, I HAVE been given a gift.  I am still here.  Most people in my shoes get to walk in them for about 6 months. I've been wearing my Stage IV melanoma kicks everyday for almost three years.  Much, much longer than I ever dreamed.  So...did melanoma change my life?  Most certainly.  I am more appreciative of love and humor.  I am incredibly good at prioritizing.  I am not about to let a little pain or a lot of worry completely ruin a day.  I don't know how many more I will get to have, so I am not about to waste one. 

But the truth is...we all have an "expiration date".  Most folks just don't have as clear a heads up about when that is.  I would like to think I would have fully appreciated the love and generosity so freely given by so many in my life without melanoma in it as well.  Maybe I would have/did.  But, who can say?  What I can say, today, with certainty...is that I do now.  Today.

Thanks to all of you who love me for who I am, and in spite of that as well!  I love you, too.  And, Bentie....you're my heart.

NYT video: Love endures even cancer