Redemption Summer
A quiet victory after two years of cancer treatment—and the summer I finally get to live again.
Today, I got the call. PET scan: clear. No evidence of recurrence. No distant disease. Just me—alive, healing, and finally, finally breathing freely.
It’s hard to describe what that moment feels like after two relentless years of fighting cancer. It isn’t just relief—it’s like being handed back a version of your life you weren’t sure you’d ever get to touch again. But it’s also not the same life. It’s richer, heavier, wiser. And now, for the first time in a long time, I get to live it without the cloud of fear looming constantly overhead.
I’m calling this my Redemption Summer.
I’m heading into six months of being in the clear, and I want to make the most of it. After two years of appointments, treatments, and holding my breath between scans, I’m allowing myself a season of fun. This summer, I’m focusing on simple joys—being outside, spending time with the people I love, and doing things that make me feel alive again. No big agenda. Just presence, gratitude, and some long-overdue fun.
This isn’t about pretending the last two years didn’t happen. It’s about honoring them. It’s about dancing on the battlefield, knowing I survived. It’s about reclaiming laughter that used to catch in my throat. About giving my body rest and fun instead of appointments and survival strategies.
There’s a new edge to everything now—bittersweet but electric. I know how fast life can change. I know what it’s like to count days, not just live them. And now I get to count this summer as a gift—a season of redemption and release.
To anyone still in the fight: I see you. I was just there. And I promise, there’s a chapter ahead that feels like this one—where you get to laugh without flinching, plan without fear, and breathe without checking your chest for pain.
Here’s to clear scans. Here’s to a summer of fun. Here’s to life after the storm.
And here’s to you, Annie, for your upbeat attitude throughout and the hope that you are giving to many others!
God Bless You! He did, He does. He will again and again. Dance again. In your heart, in your body, and in your steps. What joy you must express! Redemption summer, winter, spring, fall, repeat.