I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.
My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.
It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.
Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around! [Reply]
Don't forget to have fun along the way and revel in joyful moments. Build your experiences; go on a buddy road tip, take a vacation over seas and immerse yourself in a different culture. You will learn a lot from getting out and having experiences which will increase your knowledge. Wisdom will follow suit, but it often tends to lag behind in the race. Don't sweat the small stuff. Instead rise above it until the storm passes. When you do make a mistake, learn from it and don't bang your head against a wall. I have let go of regrets which has helped me keep my peace of mind. If I knew then what I know now, my 20s would have been much more pleasant, but we don't get to press the reset button. I don't sit and wring my hands over how things went in my 20s because time always marches on, so I just have to accept it and live in the here and now. I feel good about myself.
I'll wrap up the rant now and say enjoy the journey you are on, live well and in good health. Thank you for reaching out to me. I never dreamed I could touch people's lives as I have been doing, but it has been giving me great joy. It is vey humbling and I cannot express how grateful I am to you all for all you are giving to me.
So, so true. As a young man you have chances to do things you won't get to do later in life. You will never again have so few responsibilities as you do now. Later on, you won't be able to just pull up stakes and travel the country (or the world), making a few bucks here and there for burgers and a coke. You'll have a family to support, a house to pay for, and all that.
Seize the time now, while you're young and (relatively) free from responsibility. Take several months or even a few years. See the country. Take a roadtrip. Drive until you're exhausted, then pull over at a rest stop and sleep in your car (cheap!). Get up, hit the local Y for a shower or whatever, and keep going.
Take lots of pics. Even if you think you won't want them. The day will come when you'll have a "real" job, a family, and a mortgage. You'll be grateful for these things, but at the same time they will keep you from just taking off on a whim, driving to the next state (or the next country) and spending time doing whatever it is you want.
You're only young once. Don't squander it. [Reply]
True posts. As you mature, life gives you more and more hurdles. That's all they are...hurdles. Enjoy being free and unencumbered....and fairly broke. They are gifts. There comes a time when you accept your mortality. Then you almost embrace it. And once again...every breath becomes a gift. The key to life is living it. To it's fullest. Overcome your hurdles and NEVER let them bring you down. Then as you age...you have great memories and golden moments to comfort you. I look back at my tragedies and windfalls...both with fondness. Live life to it's fullest and never pass on the chance to be kind. And minutia is just that....the shit that laps at your shoes....it won't stop you. Only you stop you! [Reply]
Godspeed Ed. Thank you for sharing this step in your much longer journey. Thank you for the lessons in fighting adversity, giving hope and living life you give. dammit man, you'll be missed and remembered down here, you have touched to many lives not to be.
and when the time comes, if you aren't too busy, could you "nudge" a kick through for us mere chiefs mortals? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Yosef_Malkovitch:
So, so true. As a young man you have chances to do things you won't get to do later in life.
Seize the time now, while you're young and (relatively) free from responsibility. Take several months or even a few years.
You're only young once. Don't squander it.
Good advice but I'll tweak it just a bit-you never KNOW if you will be able to do things later in life that you can when you are young. I'm doing these things now at nearly 54 years of age. I'm on a sabbatical for the next 7 1/2 months here living in North Scottsdale in a beautiful condo in one of the nicest areas around. Pool, gym, and working part time for a charity when I want to. Quit a great job I had for the last 6 years and left the DC area after 10 years.
I could spend hours talking about all the great adventures I have had all over the world and here in the US; from multi-millionaire to penniless and homeless to flying first class to Hong Kong 15 times and being treated like a king in limos and super hotels to many celebrity encounters to a masive variety of women of all ethnicities, colors and ages and wild varieties of experiences that have been my education. There's not a price I can put on that! :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
As a young man, you're most likely not quite sure of things. My 20s were a disaster overall with self esteem and confidence. But, despite that, I was growing into a man who was discovering things about himself and how to live my life as a good man. My big sis, not a blood relation but the sister of my best friend who was killed at the age of 12 in a car crash, has two children, a boy and a girl. Their dad just couldn't relate to them as a father. As I spent time at the grandparents house the kids were there and quickly became very attached to me. The boy would cry hard whenever I left to go home, so I had to hold him for a few minutes until he fell asleep or just stopped crying. So, I found myself being their father figure for those early years.
That made me realize that if you can be a positive figure to a child, that was part of how I defined myself as a man. I was never phony with them; I drank beer, I went to silly topless bars, and such, but in dealing with children, it just isn't something we should discuss. One of my finest memories of the kids was when they were playing on the deck with the boy's toy cars and trucks. Chance had two fire trucks, one red and one green. He was playing with the red one and then got a different toy. Lenzi played with the truck he was playing with before switching to something else. He didn't like it so a tug-o-war ensued. I stepped and said, "Stop this and share. Lenzi can play with it but she isn't stealing your toy. If you keep this up, it's naptime for the both of you." He let her play with the red truck and then they both said, "You're a good daddy." My heart turned into a giant glob of melting butter. I also realized that I needed them as much as they needed me.
So, to sum it up, look within yourself, think about how you can do things to mold yourself into a good man, discover your values and beliefs and that is what will shape you into the man you want to be. It's happening right now with the question you posed. You are defining yourself not only for yourself but how others will see you. Being young, I assume early 20s, you are so lucky. Building your character, finding your values and your inner strength is a beautiful time in life. Don't forget to have fun along the way and revel in joyful moments. Build your experiences; go on a buddy road tip, take a vacation over seas and immerse yourself in a different culture. You will learn a lot from getting out and having experiences which will increase your knowledge. Wisdom will follow suit, but it often tends to lag behind in the race. Don't sweat the small stuff. Instead rise above it until the storm passes. When you do make a mistake, learn from it and don't bang your head against a wall. I have let go of regrets which has helped me keep my peace of mind. If I knew then what I know now, my 20s would have been much more pleasant, but we don't get to press the reset button. I don't sit and wring my hands over how things went in my 20s because time always marches on, so I just have to accept it and live in the here and now. I feel good about myself.
I'll wrap up the rant now and say enjoy the journey you are on, live well and in good health. Thank you for reaching out to me. I never dreamed I could touch people's lives as I have been doing, but it has been giving me great joy. It is very humbling and I cannot express how grateful I am to you all for all you are giving to me.
I'll just echo what SR said earlier.....I love you, Man, I really do. I'm a 50 year old guy that is truly inspired by a person on a message board I've never met. Thanks so much for just being you, and sharing yourself and your story with all of us. I try to be a good person, and share my gifts as much as possible, but your life and story has really inspired me to do more and to be more. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! [Reply]
