The State of the Susan & Me

Posted by: shessel on: January 25, 2011

• In: Breast cancer
• 1 Comment

Family members, blog readers, friends and those who do not give a damn: So many people ask me how I am doing and I can say the State of the Susan is good and getting better.

Had I made this speech a year ago,  I would have spoken about challenges completed – chemotherapy – and the challenges ahead – radiation. I am happy to say the tasks of treating cancer mostly are behind me, although I will take an anti-cancer drug for ten years. I look forward to an even better Susan in 2011 and the years ahead.

No Susan stands alone. I could not do what I do without the help of my husband, children, brother, other relatives and friends. Oh, and the doctors and other medical staff caring for me may have had something to do with my health and wellbeing today.

And then, of course, there is my sense of humor.

Yes, breast cancer has been a part of my life but there is much more to me than cancer. It turns out having cancer allowed me to discover some strengths within myself. I would never have asked for cancer, but since it arrived I have tried to deal with it in as positive – and wacky – ways as possible.

I want to thank all of you for your support in the last year and look  forward to writing more blog posts this year.

____________________________________________

The first thing you need to know about this blog post is that I stole the idea. Oh, how I wish I were clever enough to think of it, but I was not. It turns out that presidents, governors and mayors have long given a state of this or that address for much of our history or as long as they could be seen on television. Who knew?

What really got me started on this post was hearing a mock State of the Family address on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Commentator Erin Clune created this wonderful address about her family’s accomplishments that  included a child yelling “You lie!”

Listen to it here:

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/25/133218505/Time-To-Address-The-State-Of-The-Family

It’s not the only parody available on the state of the family. Another commentator, Pat Dunnigan, wrote an essay about the state of the American family, which began, Mr. Husband, Family Members, Neighbors and Distinguished Pets:

Tradition requires that, from time to time, we submit to the household information about the state of the family. Families have always done this, in good times and bad, even when no one is actually listening.

Read more at:

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/25/133208169/the-american-family-oh-the-state-were-in

As President Obama said in that other State of the Union Tuesday night, “The future is ours to win but to get there we cannot stand still.” That is the reason that I will continue to walk at the mall until spring when I will walk outside once again

.

The President also said, “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.”

I can’t agree more – but go Packers.

Let me conclude by saying, Thank you and God bless America, Wisconsin, La Crosse (and surrounding areas), Losey Boulevard and our house, as well as the homes, communities, states and countries of family, friends, blog readers, and heck, the whole world.

Tags: postaday2011, state of the union