Heart to Heart: A Year-end Reflection

December 31, 2019 – It’s been a year. Man, has it been a year! Like many folks, the end of the calendar year brings reflection and remembrance…and, perhaps, a little remorse. For me, even the month of December brought a flood of new experiences along with memories from the prior year.

I decided, in an indirect way, to have a heart-to-heart talk with myself. Maybe this time I’ll listen.

Writer’s Block

Two more feature articles (see screen shot below) were published online this month (December) at StoryBoard Memphis. While I’ve enjoyed writing these stories along with researching and learning about my subjects, feature writing has taken me away from my true writing love – fiction. So, at some point in 2020, I want to block out enough time to finish my novel.

Yes, Elvis is truly everywhere…even in Arizona’s Verde Valley.

Heart-to-Heart

It’s been one year (December 21, 2018) since I had a heart attack. I wrote about my experience last year at this same time (see All I Want For Christmas…). Life has changed, life has stayed the same, and, as we all know, life moves on. My heart attack was essentially genetic, but I’ve got to continue to take care of myself – like all of us – in order to prevent any more issues.

In an ironic twist, on December 21st (2019), Skincancer.net re-shared one of my blog posts (A Walk in the Park) in their Facebook feed. It’s one of my favorite pieces from 2019 with a very simple message: nothing in life is a walk in the park.

Survivor’s Guilt

One definition of survivor’s guilt states that someone may feel guilty – as though he or she has done something wrong – because they have survived a traumatic or life-threatening event when others have not. Those of us who deal with cancer walk a tightrope of emotions, and survivor’s guilt can rear its ugly head at any moment – especially during the holiday season. I previously talked about my own guilty feelings in the post An Emotional Morning.

A great shot from Miles for Melanoma. Our Centrum Silver moment.

That guilt and pain took center stage right after New Years when I found out that yet another friend had died from cancer. This friend and I shared the same birth date (May 20) and with his passing the close-knit blues music community (national and international) lost a great advocate.

Reflecting on Another Year

I’ve grown tremendously this past year – both as an advocate for skin cancer research and melanoma prevention and as a writer with several published stories to my credit. One of my big successes -under both advocacy and writing – was a piece published (online) nationally by Coolibar Sun Protective Clothing. As it turned out, the original story (from July 31, 2019) was re-shared by Coolibar on Facebook on December 30th.

December 31st

It’s been five (5) years since my mom died, so 2019 ended with an anniversary that no one wanted to celebrate. I’ve written two posts about her decline from dementia and her passing. My dad still misses her very much, of course, but it’s a sad way to ring in the new year…any new year.

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Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis.  No set schedule.  So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.

What a Week!

August 4, 2019 – It’s been a week filled with a lot of emotion and humility. Mostly it’s been many highs with just a couple of lows. As cliches go, it’s been a whirlwind. I guess I’ll begin at the beginning:

During the prior week, we celebrated my six-year metastatic melanoma (Stage IV) diagnosis. Obviously, it’s a bittersweet celebration, but as long as I’m still around to celebrate – I’ll take it. Here’s an old post from the first year anniversary (July 2014 anniversary).

On Monday, July 29th, we saw my cardiologist for my six-month visit. It’s been a brutal summer here in Memphis, and the heart meds – along with Gleevec – have done a number on me. Tired, fatigued, dehydrated, etc. My heart doctor says that we should stay the course with my medications. In other words, get through the rest of summer and then we’ll re-evaluate his cardiovascular cocktail in December.

Tuesday, July 30th, brought me a sense of relief. With the help of my editor and friend, Jayden Terrell, I completed my novel manuscript sample and submitted it for agent/editor review. The agent/editor critique will occur during the Killer Nashville International Writers Conference, which will be held later in August in the Cool Springs area, just outside of Franklin, Tennessee. I’ve been writing this book – off and on – for almost ten years. Wish me luck.

Wednesday, July 31st, I took part in a video conference panel on living with melanoma sponsored by Skincancer.net. It was both an eye-opening and humbling experience to share survival stories with other melanoma warriors.

My teammate!

Note: Skincancer.net is part of the Health Union family of online support communities. Earlier in July, I became a paid contributor (known as an advocate). My work will appear on their website.

Later that afternoon, I found out that my melanoma journey story was published online by Coolibar Sun Protective Clothing. My skin diary story is now on a national website along with survivor stories by Holly Rowe of ESPN and Nora O’Donnell of CBS News. To say that I was psyched would be an understatement.

On Saturday, August 3rd, was the Miles for Melanoma – Memphis (5K) held at Shelby Farms Park. The run/walk is an annual fundraising event for the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF). I am highly involved with the MRF and their various advocacy initiatives. This was the fifth year that I participated in the Memphis race. It will likely be my last year of active involvement in this event.

Very cool!

To top off a crazy week, I was recognized by the MRF for my fundraising efforts. Another cool, yet humbling, experience.

Let’s hope next week is a little more calm.

Note:  If you want to leave a comment, just choose “Anonymous” from the Profile Selection drop down bar right below the Comment box. (It’s the very last choice.)  Sorry for any confusion.


Also, please make sure you leave your name or sign-in somewhere in your comment.  Thanks.

Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis.  No set schedule.  So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.