ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / November 24, 1999

Already it is Thanksgiving week. And, have you noticed the Christmasdecorations which have been up for over a month now? But first, Thanksgiving, when most of us will gather with friends and family to celebrate our abundance, or at least, a very full table, which many people all over the world do not have.

A full table, although important, isn’t everything. Having a heart full ofthanksgiving is. I have always felt that sometimes when we are down, wehave to look not at what we do not have, but what we do have in our lives.

That is where I am at this time. My last surgery at first looked reallygood, and we thought I had a miracle. A few days later we found that therewas no miracle after all and I would need more treatment for cancer. Thatwas and is extremely disappointing.

A year ago I was diagnosed with and had surgery for ovarian cancer. I wentthrough the surgery and the following chemo treatments with no trouble at all. I have since been going along my merry way, being very active andparticipating in a cancer study. The latest tests from that study did showa possible recurrence and that was confirmed through surgery and a number of biopsies.

The “bad guy” cells were microscopic only, and that helps us to feel a little better but it doesn’t mean that much. This disease is a relentlessone and will take determination, strength and a will to go on to deal with it. So many of you out there know exactly what I am talking about, and wemust remember that none of us face this alone.

Prayer is of utmost importance. In a TV interview I did I said it takes”faith, family and friends” to cope with cancer, and I mean that very sincerely. There have been so many prayers for me for some time now, andI and my family keep hearing about more from our friends. Please don’tstop.

In reality, I am very thankful that I probably still have a few more “songs to sing.” as the poem says. There is still time and opportunity for me topractice becoming a better person, to be more caring and loving, to do more good and to perhaps help someone else who needs a little light when their world has become dark. I can do that. Perhaps that is what I ammeant to do.

There is not enough thankfulness within me to express to all of you my deep appreciation for your flowers, cards, gifts, and, especially your prayers. I have wonderful doctors who really care about me and anextraordinarily wonderful family which loves me. How could I not bethankful? Phyllis and O’Neil have already begun to fill me with nourishing food, as they did the first time around, and all the siblings are there for me.

Somewhere in my life I did something really good because my friends have been wonderful. Yes, I am extremely thankful. I value the fact that some ofyou out there are faithful to reading this column. Thank you. I really hadnot missed a week as it appeared with my column came up missing one Wednesday, but I got confused as to what day it was and didn’t send the column in on time. Sandy, our editor, thought I had other things on my mindsince I was going into the hospital and didn’t ask for it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and with prayer and perseverance, we can share more of them. Besides having other songs to sing, I also lookforward to having more tennis matches to play. It would be great to comeout a winner!Back to Top

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