I am happy to bid adieu to 2006. Not ecstatically happy, just pleasantly ready to turn the page on a very difficult year, one in which I received more hospital and cancer-centre care than I ever thought possible earlier in my life.Today, after going to the cinema with my wife and two sons to watch Rocky Balboa, I thought about one of the sequences in the movie in which Rocky is fighting the far younger world's champion and thinking, "Like I told the kid, it's not how hard you can hit, but how hard you get hit and yet still get up to take another."
That's sort of how I feel today as 2006 comes to a close. I feel beat up. I feel like I've been through a boxing match with a foe who has defeated far too many before me and many far better persons than I could ever hope to be. But I am still here. I am still fighting and ready to battle again should the need arise. Yet, also like Rocky, some of the rage and passion to enter the ring is gone. This is a good thing, as it was for Rocky. The catharsis worked, some of which I got by sitting at a keyboard and describing my experiences on this blog and hearing from so many in email, on the phone, in personal visits, and in comments on my blog. Thank you to all of you for being in my corner with me.
But it's not just about me. I am grateful that as we enter 2007, I can turn to my family with a greater sense of being able to contribute to their wellbeing, of having more energy and better health to make a difference in the lives of those I serve through my vocation and through community service, of having more to contribute to the welfare of others than a personal perspective on the battle against cancer.
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