LOVED

Good day! I hope each of you are doing very well. It is officially spring time and having some very warm days.

Natalie and I were in Atlanta a few weeks ago and it was not warmer. I was amazed how cold it was and the weather interfered with taking my grandson for a walk each day.

Weather was really a side bar. The time with my grandson Micah was very special and an eye opener in many ways.

I have three very special grandchildren. Amelia is the oldest at 3 and she started life about 11 months before I was diagnosed with my brain tumor. Liam and Micah both started after I had been diagnosed with cancer.

If I am being honest when I was diagnosed with a very aggressive terminal brain tumor, surgery and then 12 months of chemo, I believed the clock was ticking. My time here in this life was not going to be much longer. The energy was low and holding a grandchild for more than 5 minutes was draining. I believed my young grandkids would have no memory of their grandfather.

29 months after this all started I see many areas of life differently! I don’t understand why my health has continued to get better and I am feeling well. I am very grateful for my grandchildren and the time with Micah was special and the first time I could totally focus on my grandson for several days and felt great.

I wrote this first part about 2 weeks ago. Did not get it posted and honestly have not felt very well the last 2 weeks. There are so many parts of this journey I do not understand.

I have had days and nights with headaches on the left side of my head that are different than any headaches I have ever had. That side of my head gets numb and very uncomfortable. From the beginning of that I always thought the tumor was active again. Which then lead to my time in this life was about over.

I get frustrated that I still battle with that mentality. I had several months that I had felt the best since that surgery. I was beginning to believe more and more I was going to be around for a while. That felt good and was very encouraging. My latest headaches and poor energy level has gotten me back into that, life is over mindset.

I have never stopped walking through this entire process. I started today with a bad headache and actually went back to bed after my Beautiful Wife went to work. I slept for 2 hours and felt a little better than when the day started. There was a time that was a normal part of the day but have not done that, “back to bed,” for a while. Got ready for my walk and took off.

Walking has been a special time to pray, think and honestly be grateful for life. Today I began to think about the last two weeks. They have not been that abnormal. Simply a regular part of my life. I realized it was time to get back to one day at a time and be grateful for my life. I ended up walking for 5.5 miles and overall felt pretty good.

Do you have things that get in the way to the life you desire? Maybe those days you feel “Life is Good,” and you focus on all the positive in your life. Maybe those days you feel, “Life is a Struggle,” and you focus on everything in your life that is bad. It can be easy to step out of a realistic life.

Maybe every life has both, the good the bad, the easy days and the very challenging days! And maybe it matters what you and I choose to focus on each day!

I have so many things to be grateful for. God has been so loving and generous to me! If I left tonight my life has been amazing!!!

I share this today to reset some things that I know to be true. Some things that help me feel grateful for each day and to focus on the good in my life. The negative things are part of life and I am not saying to never realize those areas, but I don’t want those things to control my daily focus especially on the days I physically don’t feel great.

It helps me and maybe you as well to never forget, YOU AND I ARE LOVED AND OF GREAT VALUE!!!!