This Is Exactly Where I Needed To Be Today

On Thursday, I gave a keynote speech to the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees (AME) entitled, “Every Mile Matters: Wellness That Gets You to Retirement.” The 60-minute speech traced my cancer journey and included key wellness takeaways for the convention crowd.

One of the points I always make in my presentations is that we rarely know what battles others are fighting. I was pretty open about my cancer diagnoses—but even so, most people at FCA had no idea I was navigating surgery, chemo, radiation, and more chemo while running the organization.

And this week?

I had my quarterly scans. Mostly distracted during the day, I spent a few nights tossing and turning, while wondering if my luck had finally run out. Almost no one at work knew that either.

With two out of three tests, I remain cancer-free and couldn’t be more grateful.

As I spoke to the group on Thursday afternoon, I noticed a woman crying during my presentation. She left for a short time and then returned, more composed.

After I wrapped up my speech, I went over to her and asked if she was ok. She hesitated for a second - causing me to momentarily wonder if I has misread her emotions - and then motioned that she wanted to step into the hallway.

Once there, she told me that she had lost her husband to cancer six months ago. I told her I was sorry for her loss, hugged her and said that I was also sorry that my speech didn’t include trigger warnings.

“Not at all,” she responded. “This is exactly where I needed to be today.”

Me, too.