When cycling, it is pretty easy to find forward.
We are home from our travels, time spent visiting Shinto temples and beautiful Buddhas, strolling through the crowded, bustling Tokyo Tsukiji fish market and Hakodate’s smaller version, gazing at stunning snow capped mountains and blue bays, and straining to catch a glimpse of Russian submarines lurking in Petropavlovsk’s harbor. The trip did what it was supposed to — provide much needed distance from doctor’s appointments, PSA tests, and cancer. For three weeks, we did not need to talk or think about cancer and how we’d move forward but rather could distract ourselves, from the distance of our cruise ship cabin, with the political unravelings, intrigue, and chaos of Washington.
Now home and resuming the routine of life, including medical appointments, we are left with figuring out how to move forward knowing surgery was mostly successful but that cancer particles linger. Like thousands and thousands of other cancer patients and the people who love them, we focus on living in the moment while considering how to live going forward knowing R has cancer.
The beautiful, peaceful Buddha of Kamakura. We made “wishes” for future health and for help figuring out forward.