Living Life from the Endzone

Some would say I sort of have dual citizenship.

Those who know me understand why I’m a Saints fan even though I’m living in Eagles country.

If you don’t know me personally then let me give you the short version: half of my family is originally from the New Orleans area so I was born into a Saints family!

You could say I’m also an Eagles fan because I’m a proud PA resident living not too far from the Philly area and have even been to an occasional Eagles game in the past. I’m just not an Eagles fan when they are playing the Saints (as was the case last weekend). Don’t get me wrong, I would have been happy had the Eagles won, I’m just a lot happier the Saints did!! Who doesn’t like a good rivalry with friends and family every now and then???

Tossing around the crazy idea of heading to The Big Easy to see the championship game in The Dome seemed nothing short of impossible. A long drive, expensive tickets, no companion with the flexible schedule to join me and just overall a list of reasons why it was such a bad idea. Then the moment of truth when I was making a final search of flights and I found one from Harrisburg that didn’t require me to sell my first born-I need to make this trip!

Living with lung cancer has help me refocus certain things and acknowledge opportunities that present themselves. Although we never know what tomorrow will bring, I’m staring down the barrel of my own mortality more so than the average person. This may be my only chance to experience the thrill of the fans and the sheer excitement of The Dome so I booked the flight and I’m off to Louisiana bright and early tomorrow morning!

I’m anticipating a busy weekend and many amazing memories created, things that will energize me and help me through the next three month segment of my life. My most recent scans showed small growth in the pesky spots but nothing that seems to be setting off alarm bells yet. So, for now, I enjoy the next week experiencing life and try to forgot, if only for random moments, the cancer I’m fighting. I can take this opportunity to share my story with new people I meet and possibly reach one person who will take my story to one more person. This is how we slowly change the face of lung cancer, increase awareness, help gain support and live to fight another day.