THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

I love old sayings and expressions... I think they stand the test of time for a few reasons...

Two of the most important lessons I have learned on my journey are to persevere and to talk about issues. I am not perfect, have obstacles on my path, and make mistakes.

To provide a “happy life” for my children, I moved us into a lovely, 2500-square-foot heritage house, on a lovely street with lovely older neighbors who waved at us from their lovely gardens. We were living a picture-perfect North American dream. Behind closed doors, though, the wheels had come off the wagon. Completely.

I always thought luck and chance were the same thing, and that they couldn’t be controlled or manipulated.

Nobody chooses illness. Many people, young and old, spend their lives fighting invisible illnesses. Nobody can look at us and understand why we talk about managing symptoms and quality of life. The common refrain among my online friends is that no one understands what can’t be seen.

The door opened and we were instantly hit with a solid wall of heat. The room was filled to capacity with women and men of various shapes and sizes quietly sitting on their mats; deep breathing, meditating, trying to stay conscious, we weren’t quite sure.

How often have you found yourself shaking your head in empathy and understanding, as you listen and feel the frustration of your female friend’s latest frustration with her partner.

And so I learned to mistrust my instincts. I chose him. I chose to believe in him and the past and not in myself. This was my biggest mistake. And I made it over and over again.

“You need an ultrasound, dear,” she announces matter-of-factly to the entire waiting room but looking straight at me. My stomach seizes. I enter the ultrasound room and a gentle woman rubs gel on my breast and moves the sensor around as she stares at the computer screen. She tells me it’s been a rough day. They’ve had a whole bunch of women diagnosed with suspicious lumps and she’s tired. The seconds tick by in a very silent room.

The paths I have taken in my life have had many twists and turns, as life does, and some days it just blows my mind how things have turned out so far. Careful what you plan, none of it may go the way you think!

“If every position of leadership and decision-making were occupied by a woman, we’d have the problems of the world solved in a week.” I think I may have heard that somewhere. Or maybe I just made it up. Either way, I believe it to be true. And these day? More so than ever.

Shortly after our arrival in Lahaina, Maui, my girlfriend found herself a boyfriend. Within a week, at her suggestion, we dumped the apartment we were renting and moved in with him. Being younger and quite daft, I just followed along. They slept in his bedroom, generously giving me the old, dusty couch in the living room, which I shared with a giant black spider I called Fred, who sat on the wall and stared at me till I went to sleep.

My surgeon is a blond Amazon — competent, decisive, a woman of few words and little time, but I trust her hands. I’m scheduled for a lumpectomy (partial mastectomy) at Victoria General Hospital on April 19, 2010 — less than three weeks after my initial diagnosis of breast cancer. Thank God I moved to Victoria.

Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be where I am today. I was a happy, healthy, active, lively being. Doing a job I loved, trained in a field I loved, volunteering and helping others - which I loved, living a life I loved. And now, here I sit, living a life I never thought I’d have to live, mourning the loss of the life I once had . . .

When I told him I knew everything, he collapsed like a cornered animal. I looked at him down there on the ground waiting — it was as if he had thrust a bloody dagger in my hand and was suddenly giving me some kind of power. 'But you’ve already killed me', I thought. What am I supposed to do with this?

First stop was Lahr, Germany, where we stayed in the barracks on the military base. We went to the cantina first thing and were invited to join the guys, who ordered trays and trays of beer and this white stuff in small bottles that they downed after every beer. Some kind of schnapps, I guess. I never knew how much booze soldiers could drink in one night! (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…) We danced all night long and tried to keep up with them. At the morning rehea

I met with her one cloudy afternoon by the lake. Because I had a painful appetite for details. Because I wanted to be a player in this drama. She was nervous and couldn’t look me in the eye. I wanted to know dates, places and, most importantly, was she in love with him? “Yes,” she said. I asked if she thought he was in love with her. “I think so,” she said. (I wonder why she thought that?)

Recognizing that globally, gender-based violence is the most pervasive and least recognized human rights violation, Zonta International Strategies to End Violence Against Women (ZISVAW) works in partnership with UN agencies and regional and local organizations toward ending this injustice.

Andrew was a boisterous youngster, full of life, spirit and energy, and sometimes a little mischief. He was that kid who actually did pull the fire alarm in school. Maureen often wondered what she was going to do with the boy!

My personal kitchen philosophy for food preparation is pretty straight forward: use pure, fresh ingredients with minimal to no additives. That means avoid packaged, canned and prepared foods whenever possible.