I AM JULIE STRONG

I was listening to NPR today on my drive back to Boulder from Mitchell Lake trail. There’s no cell reception most of the drive and I was happy I could listen to NPR after such a beautiful hike.

The story was about how the whole trajectory of a man’s life changed after a random act of kindness. I’ll try to find the story and link it here, but regardless if I find it or you ever listen to it, I’m going to share the point of the story and how it really hit me right in the core of my being.

A couple of months ago I had a double mastectomy to remove the cancer. I’ll talk more about the surgery and where things are in another post, but what I really want to share right now is where I am in this moment.

For 8 weeks post-surgery while I was healing and waiting for pathology and a treatment plan, I was a train wreck (and let’s be honest, the 2 months before that). I had no idea it would be that hard. I’m pretty proud of being a competent, strong, independent woman & can handle anything life throws me – but this whole cancer thing challenged every ounce of me.

YOU made all the difference. All of you who poured your love on me and my family, sent encouragement, mailed me the book that I so needed to read while you were in Portugal (or was that the Argentina trip? I forget), prayed, donated to help cover expenses, carpooled my daughters to volleyball, prepared us the most healing, nutritious meals (I’m going to share the amazing food on here, but I’m going to leave out the genetically engineered salmon, you know who you are and you know I mean no offense – it’s a cool concept…really…and I love you!), drove me to appointments, sent me hand-made mittens, brought me flowers and a luxurious cashmere scarf and socks.

And you, my son, my daughters, and my daughter in law (no papers, no wedding, but you know…I claim her as mine and love her mama too), YOU have been there for me through everything even before cancer. I can’t even try to measure how much you mean to me. You have been so strong…before, during and after my surgery. You fed me when I couldn’t lift my arms, you helped me with the drains and medication, you wrote down when I took my medications and set alarms for the next ones and you are and have always been the reason that I fight so hard.

You – the parents of my children’s friends that I’ve never met, the parents I’ve met and never hung out with, the anonymous donors on my go fund me, my old school friends, my former colleagues, my people, my tribe, all of you who showed up when I was my most vulnerable, lowest, weakest, saddest, most afraid moment of my life…YOU were there and there are no words to describe your impact and how much it means to me.

There is so much happening in the world and in your own lives and I need you to know what a gift you gave to me and my family.

I have a pretty comprehensive list of things I’ve learned since all of this started, but I’d like to share just a few things at the top of my mind right now of how your kindness has impacted me, what I’ve learned from you and what I was thinking about while listening to that story today on NPR:

• You are not alone. Be open, Speak up – seriously the best thing I’ve done for myself so far is to start this blog and share with you all the raw details. I can’t tell you how many people reached back and shared their cancer stories and I didn’t even know they went through cancer.
• Listen to your intuition. There is so much noise and distractions so if it’s not obvious what to do and it’s not screaming at you, then make time to listen to you. Find a place or activity that helps you to hear what you’re trying to hear. Maybe it’s 20 minutes of meditation, maybe it’s a walk, maybe it’s a gratitude journal – but whatever it is, mostly make time to check in with yourself and listen especially if you’re facing something and you’re not sure what to do. If it’s still hard to know, then I have another strategy that I’ll add as a separate post or DM me – I’m here for you.
• Schedule joy everyday. Like literally put it on your calendar even if it’s only 5 minutes. Be silly with your kids, use the zoom settings to give yourself green hair and a mustache in your next meeting (yep you can actually do this – I once posted myself on a stage backdrop and changed my zoom name to Beyonce – it’s easy and definitely lightens your colleagues on a Monday), google jokes, watch a comedy, do something that makes you laugh every day.
• Live in the moment. Easier said than done, but honestly – if today was the only day you have what would you actually do today, what would you be thinking about? This one really hits me in all the feels. My son brought this to my attention shortly after my diagnosis and it was a heart wrenching conversation, complete with snotty noses being wiped on sweatshirt sleeves that night – but he made me realize how important right now, not tomorrow…really is.

I love you all so much! And when I thought of what to title this post, it came to me after I wrote the above – it is two-fold.

Look at all the incredible things I got to expericence from my day! It was 100 degrees in Boulder and I didn’t have anyone to hike with so I took the dog up to the Roosevelt National Forest and this is what we saw…yes, that’s snow in July!

And coming soon….I want to share my Spotify, but while I’m still working on it….this song is on my summer happiness playlist and ends this late night post well: