"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"
Today I am grateful that my sister Mary Jo got good news and that Darcy and I enjoyed some relaxing time with a backyard fire yesterday afternoon.
After a scan on Thursday, Mary Jo heard the results yesterday and they were hopeful. The chemo made more progress on the cancer. She is taking a break from IV chemo and going on oral chemo for three months. Infusion chemo tends to be tougher on the body and this will give her a break in ways.
There truly is no treatment break though when you have metastatic cancer. It's just encouraging to hear better news and know that there is more time to enjoy and take in the best things about life: family, friends, the upcoming holidays, the little gifts in each day. An approach we can all benefit from. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily Mary Jo, Clay, and family.
I am a long-time fan of the lyrics and music of Bruce Springsteen and even saw him in concert at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa back in the early nineties. It was a great show. He's got so many songs that I appreciate. I heard "Badlands" the other day and grabbed on to this line, sung as only Springsteen can: "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive." It is from the 1978 album "Darkness on the Edge of Town." Springsteen himself wasn't even thirty years old yet.
Here is more of the verse the line comes from:
For the ones who had a notion
A notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I want to find one face that ain't looking through me
I think Springsteen was getting at some of the pessimism of the world around us, of some of the people who would rather drag themselves and others down than lift each other up.
It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive. In fact, I consider it to be a great gift. We don't know how many days we will get. Living gratefully helps me do less squandering and more cherishing in each day. It energizes me to be a lifter, not a dragger.
After a scan on Thursday, Mary Jo heard the results yesterday and they were hopeful. The chemo made more progress on the cancer. She is taking a break from IV chemo and going on oral chemo for three months. Infusion chemo tends to be tougher on the body and this will give her a break in ways.
There truly is no treatment break though when you have metastatic cancer. It's just encouraging to hear better news and know that there is more time to enjoy and take in the best things about life: family, friends, the upcoming holidays, the little gifts in each day. An approach we can all benefit from. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily Mary Jo, Clay, and family.
I am a long-time fan of the lyrics and music of Bruce Springsteen and even saw him in concert at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa back in the early nineties. It was a great show. He's got so many songs that I appreciate. I heard "Badlands" the other day and grabbed on to this line, sung as only Springsteen can: "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive." It is from the 1978 album "Darkness on the Edge of Town." Springsteen himself wasn't even thirty years old yet.
Here is more of the verse the line comes from:
For the ones who had a notion
A notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I want to find one face that ain't looking through me
I think Springsteen was getting at some of the pessimism of the world around us, of some of the people who would rather drag themselves and others down than lift each other up.
It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive. In fact, I consider it to be a great gift. We don't know how many days we will get. Living gratefully helps me do less squandering and more cherishing in each day. It energizes me to be a lifter, not a dragger.
Hi Lisa, So glad your sister got good news. I hope the chemo infusion break allows her body a chance to rejuvenate a bit. Just not having to go to a facility and sit in that chair is in itself a nice break.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are most definitely a lifter, not a dragger, Lisa.