“You are my inspiration.  Now you have the opportunity to inspire others not only with your actions and words, but your positive attitude.”

I woke up this morning and stared at my wife who had a beautiful smile on her face although she was still asleep.  Here is someone who is going to lose a body part, have major surgery, and is currently living with a major disease inside of her and she looked so peaceful.  I’m so concerned about her yet believe she has found a good place right now where she can function and feel good about her situation.

The reality though is she faces major surgery and months of recovery which might disrupt her life a bit. 

My wife now joins the legion of survivors of cancer or those living with cancer who inspire us all.  She’s not Lance Armstrong, Sheryl Crow or Scott Hamilton, but those who will learn of her plight ad see how she handles herself will be inspired by her just as I am.  I find that even those I’ve spoken to already are amazed by her spirit to continue to move forward.  One friend today said, “You really want to have a playdate at the pool with our kids?”  I think she was amazed to hear how my wife, one day after finding out her fate, was ready to move forward and keep on living and keeping her life on a normal path.

Every day we hear amazing stories and are inspired by celebrities to every day people in our lives.  My wife interestingly enough never folows the Lance Armstrong  type sotires as much as I do.  I’m always moved by people who take adversity and not only recover to where they were before, but make themselves better.  In her own litle way, I think my wife just might be one of those people.  When you live closely with someone for 20 years you sometimes forget who it is that is standing beside you and why you fell in love with them in the first place.

Yesterday at the doctor’s office when I fell asleep after being exhausted from all the reading and reasearch i awoke to find her holding my hand and patting it as if to tell me that everything would be okay.  Maybe I needed reassurance from her that it was going to be alright.  The jury is still out, but in inspiration we find a pot of hope that is glowing in gold.