September, 20, 2014!

The Celebration Team!

Two years ago, September 20, 2012, was a beautiful, crisp, clear fall day. But what I felt like inside, having just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, was cloudy, scared and unsure of what the future would bring. This year I couldn't help but think of the woman I was 2 years ago. I wish I could have told her it was going to be OK, better than OK. The journey was going to be hard, gut wrenching at times and a mind "f@#*", but the beautiful things that would come out of the experience would outweigh all the painful parts. I would have told her that ahead of her were deeper connections to friends and family that she could never think possible but the best part would be a better connection to herself!

This September 20th the day was misty, cold and windy. Camels Hump was socked by a cloud. It was funny, I felt as though we were in our own world being snuggly held by the mist, almost in a huge hug! I was so lucky to be joined in celebration by the best friends and husband I could have ever asked for! During our silent hike up the mountain thoughts of friendship, love, hope, and even a bit of poetry filled my mind.

Friendship/Love is like a Climbing a Mountain

Sometimes it is rocky and sometimes love is smooth

Some Friends lead the way

Some have our backs

Some friends push us from behind to reach the top

Others take their own time

My poem is not very original or good but to experience the energy of hiking silently among friends and family is very powerful! The best part was I felt comfortable putting it out there. I was pretty sappy throughout the day but I felt so overwhelmingly grateful for this journey and the people who have made it all possible. 

Lately, I have been surrounded by a lot of bad news and I have been thinking of how do we survive, actually, more than survive in this world with so much pain but still remain happy and resilient? I spoke of this on our hike and I left our group with a challenge; next time you hear bad news whether it is a friend, family member or the media, take a deep breath, acknowledge the pain and then take a minute to open up to the possibility that something beautiful will be coming. You may not know when or what it will look like, but open yourself up to the inner knowing that with great pain there is great joy. I am just thinking that small bursts of positive energy will go far! It won't hurt to try! The next thing I hope people will take away is the willingness to surprise someone! Rob Nathan, my old middle school swim team coach did just that. His willingness to drive up from Connecticut on Saturday morning and put himself out there to support me was beyond anything I have ever experienced. He had been huge part of my Lynn Strong support team on Facebook and to have him acknowledge my journey in this way was unbelievable and humbling!

Thank you again for everyone that came on the hike and to those that sent well wishes the energy was palpable! Until next year! xo Lynn

Camel's Hump Climb! 9/20/14

Good morning friends,
Being Real means lets put the crappy stuff out there. I just got news that another friend has breast cancer and this cancer thing is feeling like an epidemic! What can we do with this negative energy? Make it positive! I am struggling right now but will get there.

Next Saturday is my official anniversary of diagnosis and my pledge that day was I would climb Camels Hump a year from then and here after! Like last year we will hike up in silence, honor our friendships and then celebrate at the top! We will talk up there and all the way down. Last year there was actually champagne too!

When:  Saturday, 9/20/14 rain date 9/21/14
Where: Burrows Trailhead then up to the Hump!
Time:   8am
 All are welcome! Just let me know if you are coming so we can make sure we are accounted for in the parking lot.

ps I do not get mad if you can't keep silent just try your best! You know who you are. : )


Lots of love, Lynn

Directions:

From the west the best approach is using VT Rt. 116 from Bristol to it’s junction with VT Rt. 17, turning right onto VT Rt. 17 go about 7 miles to a left turn onto Gore Road, which turns into Main Road.  Proceed on this road for about 6.2 miles to Camel’s Hump Road in Huntington Center, turn right onto Camel’s Hump Road, proceed about 3.4 miles to the Burrows Trail parking lot at the end of the road. 

Approaching the Burrows Trail area from I89 exit 11, use VT Rt. 2 to Richmond, turn right at the traffic light onto Bridge Street, proceed on this road, which turns into Huntington Road, then Main Road, just over 9.4 miles to Camel’s Hump Road in Huntington Center, turn left onto Camel’s Hump Road and go about 3.4 miles up this road to the Burrows parking lot at the end. 

What Does My Cancer Look Like 2 Years Later?

LIKE THIS!

Woohoo! This was taken yesterday and I have not stopped smiling! Let's be honest I had not been waterskiing in many, many years and it was not cancer that had put my skiing on hold! But it was having cancer that made me get my butt out there and give it a try again. Who knows when we will all have a chance again to water ski, hug a loved one or say I love you. You gotta get out there and do whatever it is that you say "next time I will"........We just have this moment in time and the motivation to take advantage of every minute has been my gift of breast cancer. Who knew that my boobs held so much power?

Along with healing I have been able to gradually take down my strength board over the last few months. I got to reread and process all the beautiful encouraging notes that I received during my treatment. You have no idea how much they lifted me then and now! I was lucky enough to reconnect with a college friend the other weekend and when I said, "I wouldn't have changed this journey for anything." She looked at me with disbelief but then quickly recognized that I meant it. My strength board is down and has been repurposed in my office with a few quotes posted here and there. Now the board is filled with some To Dos and goals for Yoga Roots, a warm community based yoga studio that was a place of healing and strength for me when I was in full recovery mode.  Now I am honored to be helping them with some marketing and I am doing my dream job! Who knew? That is the beauty of this life we all lead; no one knows what we will be doing tomorrow so as
Brene Brown always says, "Show up and dare greatly!"

Radiance Tribe

Just this weekend I was saddened and shocked by the news that one of our Radiance Tribe (that is what we named ourselves that weekend) had passed away on Wednesday, March 26th ironically the same day I was blogging on my urgency to live life to the fullest. Dee was a sweet, open and beautiful woman. She had just left me a note on Facebook wishing me a happy birthday. This news has left me unbalanced and terribly heartbroken. I am comforted only to think that she must be happy being reunited with her husband whom she had shared a beautiful life with before he had passed away. Here is a picture of our group on our last day at Kripalu. We all glowed with a radiance that only comes from within and just looking at this picture makes me smile. We were the ladies in pink that day!

http://m.poststar.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/dolores-s-chevalier/article_3aa450fe-b6f4-11e3-88c3-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true?mobile_touch=true

One year later....

Today I thought was my one year anniversary of being done with my treatments and funny enough looking back on my calendar it was March 21st! So it has already come and gone without any hoopla. Oh well that is OK. I just had fun reading my old blogs and am so happy this journey has been recorded. I have been so busy this year I haven't written about this wonderful time of moving forward. Here are just some of the highlights:

October: Leunigs and Mary Stanley's Breast Cancer fundraising fashion show. Not only did I meet a group of inspiring breast cancer survivors but I was able to celebrate and feel beautiful inside and out! At that time my hair was red, short and it was hard to feel myself so that was an empowering evening!

Zip lining with my new Kripalu friend, Mary Laliberte! A leap of faith for both of us to go on this adventure together since we had only met for the long weekend in May. Just thinking of our overnight makes me smile and feel proud!

November: Turks and Caicos with Curt in celebration of surviving and thriving last year! It was a magical trip all planned by Curt. One week away just the two of us! I discovered that I love to snorkel as much as Curt does!

Turkey Trot with Curt, Stiles and Saige and the LeChase family. I won't mention the other family members that stayed snug and warm at home. : ) Here is the Stiles family Boston Strong!

December: Celebrating the holidays with lots of family and friends. I think we had the most company ever and we loved every minute!

January: Watching lots of Saige's basketball games! Starting with the fall I had a new attitude and appreciation of being able to see as many soccer and basketball games as I could.

January 31 and Feb 1: A workshop on Living, Loving and Lighting Up! with Maria Sirios at YogaRoots in Shelburne all inspired by my trip to Kripalu last May. We had an amazing group of 30 women all enthralled with Maria's inspirational workshop and expertise in positive psychology.

February: For winter break Curt, Saige and I took an amazing trip to Paris and Madrid then met Stiles in Segovia, Spain where he had spent Winter Term. I have too many pictures........

March: I celebrated turning 47 without any tears!

A family ski day at Whiteface mountain with my Dad, Mom and the Wissler family! I think we were all glowing that day with gratitude! It was hard to believe that less than a year ago my father had been given a death sentence. And there he was after his stem cell transplant in August joining us on the ski mountain! I firmly believe in miracles!

This year has been experienced with an urgency in living life to the fullest, welcoming new adventures as well as taking time for meaningful friendships and relationships. I am grateful to Curt for jumping on board. We joke at home, "This is a once in a lifetime chance!" and yes this is true. We only have one life and the choices we make are our own. As I have learned with cancer sometimes we don't always get to make the choices. So when you get a chance to choose dive in, do your very best and make it an adventure!