[2022-08-06] Saturday Synopsis #3 and second anniversary
This is week three of my series in Jenesis called Saturday Synopsis—a weekly summary of interesting things I've discovered in the past seven days. It is not a summary of my posts over the past week, as one person surmised (though I completely understand why he thought so). This week's entry coincides with the two-year anniversary of Jenesis and my two years of marriage to Chris.
Two years of Jenesis
This quote by professor and author Adam Grant popped up in my social media feed this morning:
If you wait until you feel ready to take on a new challenge, you might never pursue it at all. Few people wake up suddenly feeling prepared to lead or create. They become prepared by taking the leap anyway. Our greatest regrets are not our failures, but our failures to try.
I thought it was fitting given that today is the second anniversary of my Jenesis blog. I didn't wake up on August 6, 2020, feeling prepared to write every day for the next 730 days, sharing my cancer journey, daily anecdotes and perspectives on life. I had a vague notion that I might keep up my daily missives for a year, but this wasn't at all certain the day I began. I simply wanted a way to keep family, friends and coworkers apprised of my progress in dealing with ovarian cancer.
I don't believe I would have regretted not starting the blog (after all, you can't regret what you didn't see on the road you didn't travel). However, knowing how much the blog and the connections it has enabled me to build have enriched my life, I'm happy I took the leap and grateful for whatever motivation pushed me down this path.
Two years of marriage
Also this week, Chris and I celebrated our second anniversary as a legally married couple. When we were younger, it didn't seem to matter that we weren't married; in fact, in the early years of our relationship, there were tax advantages to being common-law. But those advantages disappeared long ago. As time marched on, we thought, on various occasions, that we should get married, in case something happened to one of us. My diagnosis with ovarian cancer in 2020 was the push we needed to finally make it official. I learned that I had ovarian cancer on Wednesday, July 29, 2022. Two days later, Chris and I picked up our marriage licence. And three days after that, we said "I do." Our anniversary celebration was as modest as our wedding. After almost 33 years together, a comfortable, casual, down-to-earth approach to our anniversary (much like our wedding) just felt right. That said, we did splurge on new linens for our bed, spending more on that anniversary gift than we had on our elopement.
Good news story: flowers, garden, life in the country
Every week, I see heartwarming stories, such as a father and son who waited in the heat for the garbage man so that the boy could give the worker a bottle of cold water or the man whose dog pushes his wheelchair, but the good news story I want to feature this week is my niece's Instagram account @hollingtonfarm. I love seeing Kelly's stories and posts come up on my Instagram feed. She shares photos and videos of her flowers, garden and life in the country on the Hollington farm. It gives me a little taste of home, which fills me with peace and appreciation. If you like flowers, gardening and country living, check out Kelly's @hollingtonfarm Instagram account.
Recipe: sour cream coffee cake
This week's recipe is a family favourite: Sour Cream Coffee Cake. Though it is a little indulgent, this cake is fine made with low-fat sour cream (5%); indeed, it's better than when made with full-fat sour cream. I made it this week for afternoon tea with my mom and sister, and I sent a little home with my mom for my younger brother. He followed up with a text later in the evening: "Mmmmm thats good cake!!!" I recommend warming each piece for 10 seconds in the microwave before enjoying it with your favourite hot beverage.
Quote: width and depth
A friend recently shared this quote from humorist and writer Evan Esar: "You can't do anything about the length of your life. But you can do something about its width and depth." It reminded me of a similar quote by Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Life, if well lived, is long enough." Because none of us knows how long our life will be, it behooves us to live it as well, as widely and as deeply as we can.
Photo of the week: backyard wedding
This week's photo is a throwback to my wedding to Chris two years plus two days ago. It was a cool, rainy day, hence the umbrella. I love our facial expressions.
