Cynthia Ericson, Cancer Humorist
Let me introduce myself.
As there is so much more to my life than just cancer, I feel the need to tell you all about ME. Does that make me egocentric? Maybe a little :)
I grew up on a small hobby farm in a small town in western Pennsylvania. I'd tell you the name of the town, but you haven't heard of it (unless you're from there). I am the baby girl in a family of 6. This means that YES, everyone picked on me. And NO, I was not spoiled (although I'm sure my siblings would claim otherwise). I had a pretty idllyic childhood. Two parents that loved us, a pretty solidly middle to upper middle class lifestyle, and little to no overall drama. Don't get me wrong, I've got LOTS of great stories about how much trouble 6 kids can get into during a summer without school, but they are all fond and funny memories. In short, I was blessed from the get go.
In high school, I was the star basketball player. Well... being 6' tall and from a small town means that I solidly towered like 3 inches or more over everyone else on my team, which meant if I wasn't the "star" then I must've been totally uncoordinated or a klutz (and I'm only a little bit uncoordinated). I enjoyed high school. I made several amazing friends that I still keep in contact with. But... by the time senior year came around, I was ready to go. To live life and explore and have an adventure.
So I went to University of Pennsylvania in Philadephia. No, not Penn State. And no it wasn't a community college as some people from my hometown seemed to think :) I played basketball there for 2 years, realized I was never going to play pro and decided I should probably focus on getting good grades instead. So I got a job, played club volleyball and graduated with a degree in Finance. This was another fantastic 4 years of my life, but by the end, I was ready to move on, grow up and live on my own.
During college, I met my hubby. I saw him in a bar when I was out with some friends. Since he was 6'5", he was immediately picked up on the "guys I could date" radar. My two friends encouraged me to go talk to him (aka told me if I didn't they'd embarass me, thanks Jamie!). I did. We talked for HOURS and then exchanged info. 5 years later we were married.
Hubby is in the Army, so we've lived all over. After college, I moved to Minnesota for a job while Chris finished school. I made it through 1 winter, decided I HATED the cold and moved, vowing to NEVER GO BACK. I moved to Georgia to be closer to the man that is now my hubby and spent 2 years in Atlanta before he and I tied the knot and I moved to Columbus, GA. Let me just say that I LOVED Georgia. Nothing like having weather at 20+ degrees ALL YEAR ROUND. We were in Columbus for 1 year before being moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Chris to take his Captain's course. 6 short months later... we were moved to Mankato, Minnesota.
God has quite the sense of humor. I should've believed my mother when she told me to never say never.
In March of 2009, my husband and I welcomed our son into our lives. He has been the biggest blessing that I could've ever imagined. I love being a parent and I love seeing him grow and learn every single day. He is the light of my life and I am the center of his world. He keeps me focused on what is important in life and I keep him from leaping off tall furniture. So far it's working well for us.
In April of 2010, Chris was deployed to Afghanistan. This was our third deployment, but our first with a child. It's been an intersting experience for me and for Chris as well.
In December of 2010, at the age of 29, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Too young for cancer? HA!
What you will find here are my musings on the "funny" side of cancer. I know that sounds morbid and awful and I'm sure many people will think this is not at all funny.
If you are one of those people, please don't read my blog.
However, the quote I intend to live by for the next year is this:
Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your
situation might be, you can survive it.
~Bill Cosby
If this speaks to you, or you'd like to follow my journey through this experience, come along and have a laugh.