In 2005, a gal at work named Pam got an aggressive form of breast cancer, had a mastectomy, blah, blah, blah (I'm not minimizing what she went through, it's just staggering the mountain she had to climb). Anyway, she beat the cancer, and we (a bunch of us) went to celebrate the end of her chemo via Happy Hour (or three)!

We hug, and she always gave me a little kiss on the face. I swear I feel ‘up’ hours after seeing her.

Then towards the end of last year, the cancer came back and lodged in her brain in some location you couldn’t get to with conventional surgery. (sigh)

She and her family were wrecked, and I was devastated (only because it felt like I had been holding my breath the whole time she was going through the breast cancer ordeal).

Guess what, she had some bizarre non-evasive treatment with something I comically refer to as a ray-gun, and she is again, cancer free. Whew! I still get my hugs and kisses too!

During this period another coworker got colon cancer (another woman). No obvious symptoms, but something clued her Doctor into doing some tests. Kathleen has since recovered. However in her case, the chemo made her deathly sick and she stayed home and slept for what seemed like months. Interestingly on her return to the living and work, the music group Hapa was performing here, and I talked her and her Mom into going to see them. Hawaiian music makes me feel so good; I was hoping it did for her too. She loved it, fell in love with Barry’s guitar playing and Nathan’s voice (and who wouldn’t?)! Ah, life is good.

Sorry for the long post, and I swear it’s coming to an end… but 2 coworkers/friends wasn’t enough for the beast called cancer. This 3rd occurrence with yet another coworker was another aggressive breast cancer. Myra is only age 36. The woman took on the disease like you sign up for college courses. She learned, read, and suffered (and rarely complained) - amazing. She's had a couple of surgeries including a mastectomy, lots of chemo, and continues to work, however she is taking some time off for radiation treatment pretty soon. I'm hoping/wishing for the best, what else can you do other than to stay positive!

As a male and mentally still youthful, cancer and breast cancer is something not usually on my radar - past tense. To get surrounded by it, seeing the faces of those affected and considering these women as friends, has been a real roller coaster on this end.

The flip side is finally getting a better appreciation for people; their sameness, their differences, their uniqueness. Without some connection to another person, most of this world would mean nothing.

So to salute Maggie for her wonderful gifts, and her positive attitude, thank you again for another terrific episode of Beachwalks with Rox.

Aloha kakou!