A breast cancer survivor shares her experiences with the BRCA gene.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Life as it should be lived

When you've stared death in the face twice before the age of 50, you get a few things in order. 

One of the chief realizations through my battle with cancer is the brevity of life (no big shock there, I know) and the importance of living out your dreams, if possible, rather than putting them off for "one day" that never comes.

Despite depleting my life savings account, I'm embarking on my dream of taking my two nieces (ages 15 and 22) to Paris.  Since they were little girls, I've talked about taking them to Paris, even using this as a ploy to get one of them to expand her culinary tastes beyond, "eew, yuck, gross." 

So, with map and credit card and a French-American dictionary in hand--and a suitcase packed with nothing but black--we leave today for a week in Gay Paree, exploring the touristy sites, visiting the local markets and eating nonstop. 

It's a dream-come-true for me.  I hope to give my nieces a memory for a lifetime.  I'm so mindful in light of cancer that what's important to me are people and experiences - and I want to fill my time with those two things.

Au revoir.

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