And The Crowd ROARED

I am really lucky that I have a crowd around me cheering me on while I'm kickimg  cancer’s ass. Not everybody can say this and I do not take it for granted even for one second. Staples came up the idea of an “Easy Button”. I think we’d all be WAY better off with an “Applause Button” than an "Easy Button". First, for whatever reason, things that come easily to us, we just don’t appreciate – at least most of us. Maybe Mother Teresa was good enough to take nothing for granted, but most people, not so much. Second, there is just not enough applause and cheering for many people in this world.  A lot of people go their whole lives with no cheering.  That is sad to me as cheering isn't all that hard to do really – and it can change a life much for the better.

 The people that populate my cheering section are all different and from all sorts of places. Sort of like wonderful souvenirs of my life so far, I have packed them up and carried them with me. Some have been around since the beginning and some are new on the scene.  Some I am related to. Some have been friends for years. Some are new friends. Some, I have never met in person, but on Facebook, WordPress (where my blog is published), twitter, LinkedIn, and other similar places. I have noticed that the crowd, like most crowds, moves around and changes. Some people drift away, some I have asked to leave, some left for their own reasons. Some are diehards and I know that the chance of their leaving drifts between slim and none - Yay. Some bring their own crowd with them. They all roar in different ways too. They send flowers and gifts, visit, call, write cards and notes, and post comments and “likes” on various and assorted social media. Please feel free to like, recommend and share the hell out of this blog by the way. Different people, at different times, move to the head of the crowd and they seem to move there when I need them most. 

My Mom and my boyfriend have been the ones most involved with this whole process and have been beyond terrific. The rest of my family has also been really there for me. They say (actually one of my sisters told me) that you will find out a LOT about people when you battle a disease as dreaded as cancer. I was prepared to be disappointed. I was not prepared to be so completely overwhelmed by love, kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity. I received more than 12 bouquets of flowers! I was given fruit, quiche, candy, teddy bears, socks, pajamas, cake, cookies, cards, a survivor’s bead for my Pandora, real food while in the hospital, and more. Smiles and gentle hugs were not doled out, but heaped upon me. It seems that people are taking turns coming to the front of this wonderful crowd and this happened in a big way the other day. This by the way is only one example of the many times this has happened with many different people, but it’s a good one.

 My brother, Chris called to see how I was doing and catch up a bit. Something that he said really resonated with me. I love that word… resonated…  Anyway he knew, from another sister – I have three and two brothers, that this past week has been pretty tough in regard to pain. I skate some pretty high mileage to deal with stress and to help keep my body is decent shape. The stress handling part works well. Proof of that is the couple of people still walking around and breathing that really deserved to be killed. At any rate, Chris knows this, as does anybody that has spent any time talking to me. When I told him that I was trying to skate through some of the pain he told me that I should “see” him on the side of the road, jumping up and down and cheering “go baby go!”. He said that I should just imagine him whenever I needed a boost like the people yelling for a team or a competitor. 

 So, I did. And it worked. I mean it really worked. I could almost see him on a corner waving and I could hear his voice in my head. And it help me get through a tough skate when I wanted to quit because I was too tired to be my own cheerleader. And because he was there, I kept going. And I love him for it. And I love everybody that has helped along the way. I even love those that haven’t helped yet, because we have not yet met. Because everybody needs a cheering section and I am lucky enough to have one now when I really need it... So dear cheering section, please know that your cheering is very valuable to me and priceless and irreplaceable. When my crowd ROARS, my heart sings and I get a little stronger and a little further along this strange journey of kicking cancer’s ass. Thank you and may the universe find some way to gift you for your loyal and warm support. At the very least, you know you have me, cheering for you, whenever and where ever you need it. Much love to you all.

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Kudos to Kashi - NOT

Not everything in this blog will be about my health or lack thereof. Some of it will be just to get it Off My Chest.

I saw a notice in the grocery store the other day posted by Kashi. It was an apology and an explanation to their customers. The notice explained that they had discovered that some of the suppliers from whom they bought ingredients for their products were using GMOs. Therefore, they were pulling the effected products from the shelves until they could solve this horrible problem. I thought, “KUDOS TO KASHI! What a responsible thing to do!” Instead of being caught out like some wretchedly self-interested, dirty, money grubbing politician, they said “There is a problem here. We are accepting full responsibility for it, informing you of it, and pulling the product from the shelves to protect you from this low down sneaky supplier.”

All of this was an affirmation that I was buying products from a company that was one of the few “good guys” left. I had been persuaded by their commercials that they really did go to the ends of the earth to find delicious AND healthy ingredients that they would caringly make into food for me and my family. I, like a huge number of other people, willingly paid a good deal more for Kashi products, based on the idea that their products were a better tasting organic choice than other companies offered. I believed that I could have a serving of convenience with my organic food. They had dozens of tasty looking products that were no trouble to make  and a great healthy choice.

After seeing this communique, I went out of my way to pick up a few other Kashi products, both to reward them for their good behavior and to help sustain them through, what I thought would be tough times - because they took the high road. Since then, they have, without any changes, put the same product back on the shelves. They posted a video on social media “starring” some lady who was obviously and poorly reading from cue cards. The boiled down version is that they have some foods that are organic and GMO free and the rest are not. The consumer comments in response to that, showed very clearly, that those who viewed it were something less than placated. They then had their GM do a video. His performance seemed to be just that, a performance. While wearing a giant phony smile, he sniveled about there not being enough organic foods available for them to buy so they had to resort to non-organic and GMO ingredients, and that things would be better by 2014. There was some sanctimonious protesting that every product was well within USDA guidelines. USDA guidelines?! Oh, well I feel much safer now… We all totally trust our government these days, right?

Millions of us switched to organic foods because we didn’t trust the food supply regulated by the USDA in the first place. It had become corrupted by too many ingredients we couldn’t pronounce. Too many things sounded like a laboratory experiment rather than a farm harvest. Some sounded like they didn’t even come from this planet. The companies that made these products had become an invisible they, not someone we knew and trusted so we started buying from the little upstarts that had a new idea. The new idea was to go back to the old ideas – back to the basics of our great grandparents. Kashi was one of these companies. It seems, however that they have fallen away from the original mission. When Kashi published these videos, they accomplished exactly the opposite of their intended goal. They shone a spot light on a company that seemed far more interested in ass-covering than anything else. They became, through their own actions, a corporation to whom we were dollar signs rather than people. Kashi has become the Tiger Woods of the organic market. Because they portrayed themselves as the “Good Guys” that we could all look up to and trust, when they failed us, the backlash was instant and is becoming monumental. It seems they have fallen – far and hard. It will be interesting to see what happens next. I, for one, will be buying someone else’s Seven Whole Grains because I no longer believe them true to their mission.

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