Tonight I'm getting ready for (delayed) Thanksgiving dinner and I can't help reflecting a bit on the past year as well as what's ahead of me. You see Thanksgiving has been a holiday of mixed emotions for me for six years now. Why? Because six years ago the day before Thanksgiving found me undergoing the first of two surgeries that helped me overcome both uterine and cervical cancer. I still get mad that cancer is a reality not in only my life but also in the global community. It seems that with all the amazing things we've figured out how to do we should be able to figure this one out too! On the other hand I am so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to not only watch my boys develop into pretty wonderful men but also to welcome my first grandchild into this world next month. There was a point in time that the first seemed a long shot and the second downright impossible! I am truly blessed.

So tomorrow I will welcome my family and closest friends to my home to celebrate Thanksgiving. The next day I'll head off to a surgeon to figure out what is going on with what appears to be a large gallstone. I still get a bit frightened when something unusual shows up in my body but I have faith that I'm not done here yet. Irrational fear is just a by-product or left-over from the monster I defeated six years ago. It will never, ever win.