October is a great month for many reasons. For one, it means that fall has arrived which is my favorite season of the year. It also means that Halloween is near which is my second favorite holiday. And the third reason is that it is also Breast Cancer month.
On a very personal note, I have not shared on our blog yet that I am a breast cancer survivor. When I was 36 years old and had three young children, I was diagnosed with an aggressive and very fatal type of cancer. That was 18 years ago. (Are you doing the math in your head and now know how old I am? haha!)
I underwent a year of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation and had a double mastectomy. I lost all of the hair on my head and most of my eyebrows and eyelashes. But I never lost the hair on my legs. You would think that if there could be one perk about having cancer that maybe I wouldn’t have to shave my legs! But alas, shave my legs I did.
One does not go through an experience like this without learning a few lessons. The lessons that I learned are too numerous to list in a single post but the greatest lesson learned was that our relationships with our loved ones – friends or family – are and should be the first priority in our lives. If this is to be true, then why don’t we treat our family members better? Why are we so determined to always “be right” ? We need to think of ourselves less and think of others more. I saw a quote the other day that I really liked. It read: “Most people don’t listen with the intent of really listening. Most people listen with the intent of thinking how they are wanting to reply.” We need to listen to others more than we want to hear ourselves, as a way of fostering our relationships with our loved ones.
Treasuring our relationships also means spending time with our family and friends. Our children love to spend quality time with us. In great quantities! One thing that my immediate and extended family has done well is to do things that will make memories every time we are together. When our children are older they will not remember the color of our bathroom but they will remember the things that we did with them.
So although you may think that making cupcakes with your children is not a big deal….it is a big deal. Another quote about listening and things being a big deal:
“Listen earnestly to anything that your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them, all of it has always been big stuff.” Catherine Wallace
One out of every eight women will develop breast cancer. One out of every four people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. If cancer has not touched your life yet, most likely it will. Cherish those whom you love. Cherish the time that you have together. Tell your family that you love them. Tell them again. Spend time with them. Listen. Really Listen.
We guest posted about these Owl Cupcakes over at “My Kitchen Escapades” yesterday. Hope on over for the tutorial! You’ll be glad you did.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
And to my family – I love you more than dirt.
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On Friday, we link up at these parties!
The Answer is Chocolate – Shaken Together Life – Naptime Crafters – Whipperberry – Chic on a Shoestring – The Shabby Nest
The Pin Junkie – Just us Four – Serenity Now – French Country Cottage – The Frugal Girls – Romantic Home