See, I only made you wait 2 days for another post. Not too bad.
A few weeks ago, one of the instructors from the Y's Livestrong class and I were asked to speak about our experiences in the program for the Annual Campaign kickoff. I gladly said yes as the program has been amazing, and I probably wouldn't have participated had it not been for the campaign's funds. I felt the least I could do was give a speech. I'm set to speak at 6:30pm, an hour or so after the start of the meeting, since I have to work that day. In my head, the YMCA gymnasium is going to be full of people. I have my speech all prepared on some notebook paper. I eagerly accepted the opportunity to commence my up-and-coming stand-up comedy career. I ask the front desk lady where the meeting is taking place. She directs me to a room with about 15 people sitting down at tables. Everybody in the room is going around telling their "Y Story". I ditch the paper and tell my sob story instead, followed by many post-meeting "Thank-you-for-telling-your-story"s. But I just kept thinking about how this glorious speech would go to waste. So instead, you all get to read it. It's a little rough around the edges with lots of redundant information you already know if you've been reading my posts, but here goes: Speech *Imagine a room full of hundreds of people chanting "speech, speech, speech. with the same enthusiasm that Trump supporters chant "build that wall". Because in my head, that's how this whole thing was going to go down. I'm a little nervous to speak to you all today. [From sentence #1, you can already tell this speech isn't going to work. Nobody gets nervous to talk at a round table discussion with only a few people.] You know how you're supposed to picture people in their underwear when giving a speech. Well I'm gonna just picture everyone bald instead. Because cancer. Although, I do admit cancer makes you fearless in some ways. For example, yesterday during Livestrong class, I got my period. Instead of running to the bathroom with tampons and pads in tow, I just let it happen. I figured if it started to show through my pants, it'd be a nice change having people stare at my butt instead of my bald head. Nobody told me what to talk about so... Who likes chocolate? Show of hands, who prefers dark? Milk? I used to be a milk chocolate person, but then it started "not agreeing" with me. And I LOVE anything with milk. I have this friend who doesn't drink it because she's like, *whining* "It makes me break out." Does anybody have a friend like that? A friend who's like, *whining again* "I don't eat gluten." Not because they actually have celiac disease but because they think it makes their finger twitch and their nose turn blue. Now, whenever I hear someone say they don't eat a certain food for a stupid reason, I just say really nonchalantly, "Oh yeah, I get that. I don't drink milk because my stomach got messed up from chemo because I had cancer and it makes me poop my pants 25 times per day...because I had cancer." Come on...when you've had or have cancer, you have to make it fun in some way. But Livestrong has given me a way to bond with other people who've experienced the same struggles that I have. They get that there are days when all you can eat are pretzels and chicken broth. And they get that cancer flips your life upside down. I'm the middle child in my family (aka, the problem child). At the ripe age of 24, my parent's were pretty thrilled that I'd finally gained financial independence. I was getting paid to do research and go to grad school. Three days into classes, I found a lump on my neck. And only a couple months later, I was Tinder's most eligible bachelorette: age 24, living with my parents, unemployed, and bald. Even during treatment, I was itching to get back to exercising. Pre-diagnosis, I was a rower doing two-a-days, 6 days per week. During treatment, I'd steal guest passes from my neighbor when I was feeling well enough. My mom spotted a flier at the Y for Livestrong and just days before my last treatment, I met Cathi [one of the Livestrong instructors] at a Body Pump class. Now I get to see Cathi and Barry every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. They complement each other so well -- a personal trainer and a survivor. While I'm not where I want to be physically right now, I've seen incredible improvements since I started in January and am headed in the right direction. I couldn't have done it without the rest of my cancer club and financial support from the Y. So thank you. *thunderous applause*
The Y also interviewed and featured me in their newsletter a few weeks before they asked me to give a speech. I think they picked me because I'm not a regular cancer patient, I'm a cool cancer patient. Jk, it's probably because I'm a millennial. But they've been nice to me, so I'll gladly be their poster child.
Other life events
I got to chat on the phone with my old OKC teammate which was AWESOME. The last time we spoke was Canadian Henley last year, so it was very nice to catch up. Wishing her and all the peeps at OKC and PBC luck tomorrow as they head into Senior Trials! In other rowing related news...Lanie was invited to Lightweight U23 quad selection camp! If you hadn't already heard the news from me, you probably heard from my dad. He's been bragging about her non-stop since he found out. Lanie, good job. I'm very proud. But I'd also be proud if your 2k PR was a 10:14. Dad, just remember...I beat cancer. Be proud of me too. #MiddleChildSyndrome Jk, Dad. I know you're just excited for our Little Lanie Lou. I am too! Regarding bread baking adventures, I'm attempting sourdough now. I tried making 2 starters (one quick starter and one natural starter) the other day. The quick starter quickly failed. The bread was so bad that I threw it out. Now I'm waiting another 3ish days for my natural sourdough starter to finish starting...or whatever it does. Will keep you posted...
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My mom mentioned that I haven't written on my blog in awhile. But I don't feel like writing a full post yet. Just know that everything's hunky-dory. In the meantime, please enjoy this video of little Willow from dog sitting awhile back. |
AuthorI'm Emma. I love food more than anyone will ever understand - specifically cheese, chocolate, bread and pretty much every fat & carb combo you can think of - apple cider donuts, ice cream, the list goes on. Fats and carbs just go so well together. Don't you think? Why is it that when I'm tasked to describe myself, I always talk about food? Anywho, I'm a grad student and rower training studying and training in DC. Here's to having no free time and loving every minute of it (jk...I'll tell you the bad stuff too)! Archives
July 2020
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