My hope this year is directed towards other people. I've been improving slowly and my cancer is in remission, but two other dear friends aren't as lucky. One has ovarian cancer that has spread to her brain and the other is currently being treated for lymphoma. My friend with lymphoma has a good chance of beating it, but my friend with ovarian cancer is not going to be as lucky and she knows this.

Both have asked me, separately, how I stayed positive during my treatment and I was honest with them and told them that, at times, I didn't. I told them that I find hope in music and that depressing music can be very cathartic and help get out all the bad feelings.

My friend with ovarian cancer knows her time is limited and I shared with her something I heard on Anderson Cooper's grief podcast. It's from a poem called "Love Letter From the Afterlife." by "Andrea Gibson." The line I shared is "Why did no one tell us, that to die is to be reincarnated in those we love while they are still alive?" She eventually read the entire poem and said it provided some comfort. (Here's a link for anyone interested: https://andreagibson.substack.com/p/love-letter-from-the-afterlife).

I'm not trying to sound morbid here but hope isn't necessarily hope that everything will have a good outcome but, rather, that with love and support we can hope to get through almost anything.