For Thee I Sing...

"I GET IT!"...

We're ALL entitled...
To Our OPINIONS...

I've been watching the News...
Since, "Obamacare" was UPHELD,
By The Supreme Court.


But, WHO...With a "Beating" HEART...
Can be AGAINST, "The Affordable Health Care Act"
(It's REAL name...)
But, calling it "Obamacare"...Is POLARIZING...
And, DIVISION...Is what we're ALL about!
(Sorry...I just HAD to get that OFF my chest!)

There were MANY...
Being INTERVIEWED...
FOR...And,...AGAINST.
That's what an OPINION is...
YOUR Perspective...
YOUR Take...
On an ISSUE!


But, SPEAKING...
From MY OWN Experience...
With BREAST CANCER...
I'm HOPEFUL...We're FINALLY...
On the Road...To EQUALITY!
Translated: The POOR won't DIE...
From Breast Cancer...
Or ANY other, "Life-Altering" DISEASE...
Just because they're...POOR!

Many will say..."It isn't PERFECT"...
But, neither was the EARTH...
On the FIRST DAY...Of Creation...
God..."Perfected" it in 6...Rested the 7th...
So, it's a START...
And, a BOLD One at that!


"MANY" before President Obama...
"Backed" Off...At the FIRST sign...
Of  trouble...
Some thought it was... "Political" Suicide!
"I'm PROUD...Yes, PROUD!
He didn't "waiver" in his resolve!

"He that STANDS...For Nothing"...

I've NEVER made it a SECRET...
When I was DIAGNOSED...
I had just RETURNED...To Work...
AFTER taking off...
Due to my Mother's 16 month BATTLE...
With Cancer...(That she LOST!)
Then my Father's subsequent Illness.

I HAD NO HEALTH INSURANCE!

I WAS DEVASTATED!

When I was DIAGNOSED...

"HOW WILL I SURVIVE?"...

With NO WAY TO PAY...For Treatment?

Then...A WEIGHT...WAS LIFTED!

My Sister, Stephanie,

Gave me a Telephone Number...

THAT CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

To The Illinois Dept. Of Public Health...
Women's Health Division.

I was ENTITLED...To TREATMENT...
Fron a MEDICAID Funded Program...
"The Illinois Breast And Cervical Cancer Program"
(Entitlement...Is NOT "always" a DIRTY Word!)

Some WILL...Call this..."BIG GOVERNMENT"

Some WILL ...Say, "I Don't WANT Government...

INTRUSION"...

But...

I Have a "Different" Name for it...

" I CALL IT...LIFE!"

 3 years...
And, Counting...

I'm THANKFUL...GRATEFUL...

For this "BIG GOVERNMENT" INTRUSION...

THAT "SPARED"...MY LIFE!!!

I'm SURE...The 99% will AGREE...

" My Country 'Tis Of Thee...Sweet Land Of Liberty...

For Thee I Sing"...

Until Next Time...

"God Has Brought You Back!"

My Sister, and I were at my Dad's House,
For Father's Day.
We had a WONDERFUL time together.
Dinner...Reminiscing...Lots of Laughter!
And, as we were leaving...
My Father "kissed" me...
Then said...

"GOD HAS BROUGHT YOU BACK,GIRL!"

My eyes filled with tears...
(It doesn't take much!)

You will NEVER understand,
What HEARING those words feel like...

Unless...

You have been "SPARED"...
From an illness,
That has TAKEN...So MANY lives!

Breast Cancer DOES indeed Kill!

When Diagnosed...

You put your LIFE,
In the HANDS of Strangers!

Mind You...
These "Strangers"...
Doctors...Surgeons...Oncologists...
Are there to "HEAL" you...

But...

TRUST You with my LIFE?

"Didn't we JUST meet?"
(Thank God, I KNEW Jesus!)

Cancer doesn't "allow" time for pleasantry...

It's on a MISSION...

SEEK...KILL...DESTROY!
(ALL in it's Path!)

So, Introductions are...

QUICK...And, to the Point!
(No time to play "Hard To Get!")

In this Relationship...
Forget what your Mother said!
It's "Okay" to "RUSH" Things!
Cancer DOESN'T Wait...
And, neither can YOU!

We wake, each and EVERYDAY...
As if it's an "inherent" right of ours...
NEVER "really" Considering...
It's GOD...
"Breathing" LIFE..Into You.
(I took it for GRANTED, as well!)

After "Overcoming" Breast Cancer...
I REALIZE...It's a PRIVILEGE...
To "Receive"...The Almighty's,"Kiss" Of Life...
Every Morning "I Wake Up"...
(I hear Aretha singing,"I Say A Little Prayer For You!")

Yes..."Poppy"...
(That's what I call my Dad)

"GOD HAS BROUGHT ME BACK!"...

Better...Than...Ever!

Until Next Time...

Color Him Father...

Growing Up...

I ALWAYS knew who my "biological" Father was.
His name was...Charles Lewis Banks.
I talked to him on MANY occasions,
And, spent time with him.

He bought my Luncheon "outfit"...
A lavender gauze dress...
That I "pleaded" with him... For...Weeks...
To buy!
There was this "boutique"...
Across from my High School.
All the "well-to-do" girls...Shopped there!

So, I just "had" to buy my dress from,"The Source!"

He came to my Graduation...Proud...Beaming

Just like a Father should...I was his "firstborn!"

By the time he died...I loved Him...
After ALL He was my Father!
I felt I had even gotten to "know" him...
Just a "little" more...

The day before he died...We talked...
For "hours" on end...
My Marriage...My Mother...
Why he had been "absent"...In my life.

What I thought was a "new" beginning for us...
Well...God had "other" plans!

I was "raised"...By my "Step-Father".
I don't like to USE that term...

Because MY definition of a Father...

Is...

Someone who GIVES me advice,
When I need it...And, WIPES away my tears,
When I didn't "heed" His wise consul!

Someone who "sits" at my bedside...
When as a child...I thought the "witch" in my wall...
Was going to GET ME!

Loving Me...Caring for Me...Feeding and Clothing Me...
In "spite" of...My CONSTANT protestations...

"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!"

It takes a SPECIAL kind of Man...
To RAISE another Man's children...
Like His OWN.

I remember my FIRST pair of Cowboy Boots...
He bought them...
(There's QUITE a story behind those boots!)
One Day...I'll share it with you!

I LOVE the Man...Society labels...
My "Step-Father."

My Mom died shortly before...
My Breast Cancer diagnosis.

It was my "Step-Father"...
Who was at my Doctor's Appointments...
He LISTENED intently to my "cries"...
Over the LOSS of my Breast.

He made me LAUGH...When laughter was needed!
(Breast Cancer can be "serious" business!)

He listened...WHENEVER...I "called"...
ALWAYS reminding me...
"Everything WILL be alright!"
That God WILL see me through!

He sat QUIETLY...
As the Oncologist "explained,"
My Chemotherapy, and Radiation Regime.
And, when He DIDN'T understand...
He was MAN enough to say...
"Doctor, Can you explain it AGAIN..."
Just ONE MORE time?

What can I do?

But, call this man...FATHER!

Jimmie "Poppy" Cannady...

There's a song that goes...

"I think I'll COLOR Him Father"...

"I think I'll COLOR this MAN...LOVE!"

Until Next Time...

Speak To Me...

It Began...Quietly...
A Whisper...
Remember, when you were a child,
Sitting in Church...You talked when you shouldn't...
Your Mother tells you...HUSH!
It was just like that...In a "hushed" tone...

"I Am Fearfully, and Wonderfully Made"...

I heard it again...

"I Am Fearfully, and Wonderfully Made"...

What?

Now it's RUMBLING...Like Thunder!

"I AM FEARFULLY, AND WONDERFULLY MADE"...

Yes...I HEAR you, Lord!

I looked it up...Psalms 139:14

I was getting ready for work the other day,
I had some "things" on my mind.
The kind of "stuff" worrying about it...Won't change it!
But, Just like my Grandmother, Doris...
I'm a "worrier"...At least that's what her sister,
My "Great" Aunt Jean tells me!

And, while I was preparing for work...

I KEPT hearing it...

A Voice...Saying To Me...

" I Am Fearfully, and Wonderfully Made"...

What does "It" mean...Lord?

With a few days to "ponder" it...

I think I've got it!

I Am...Fearfully...And, Wonderfully Made!

I shouldn't "fear"...A problem...Or, ANY...Difficulties...

Why?

Because as it is written...In Psalms 27:1...

"The Lord IS the STRENGTH of MY Life,

Of WHOM...(WHAT)...Shall I be afraid?"

Nothing is too hard for God!

I am WONDERFULLY made...Genesis 1:26...

"Then God said,"Let Us make MAN in Our image...

According to Our Likeness".

I AM Created...In the VERY Image Of God!

What could be more POWERFUL than that?

With ALL that in mind...

I FEEL...Stronger...Fearless...Wonderful!

I just have to KEEP reminding myself...

To "tap" into His Strength!

"I AM FEARFULLY, AND WONDERFULLY MADE!"

Until Next Time...

Why?

When we're young...
We just "plow" through our youth.
EVERYTHING...
Is New...Wonderful...Exciting!
Life is just one "grand" adventure!

As we get older...

I believe we all become more introspective.

You ponder...

What's this Life...All about?
Why...Am I here?
And...For what Purpose?

When you're diagnosed with Cancer...
Those questions...
Seem to take on a WHOLE new...Meaning.

I didn't spend much time on asking God...Why?
When I was diagnosed.
But, instead...
I said,"Okay, God, this has happened"...
"Tell me...Show me..."
"How I can USE this..."
"For YOUR Glory!"
Teach me...
I'm READY...To Learn!

Some of His answers were immediate.
Two, dear friends of mine were diagnosed,
With Breast Cancer.
So...Part of His answer,
Was to become...A Beacon...
To Illuminate...The Path...To Overcoming...
This disease.

I really didn't need to say much to them...

Just as with Lazarus...
In John 11:43...
When Jesus said,"Lazarus...Come forth!"
ALL I had to do...Was just "SHOW UP"...
To let them KNOW...He Heals...
And, He ANSWERS Prayers!

But, somehow I remain...
Just a "little" unsatisfied...
I'm working...
Doing what I did BEFORE...Breast Cancer...

I wanted my Life...
To RETURN...To normal.
But...NOW, I realize...
I NEED...So much more!

Lord...Was all my suffering in vain?
How can my fight...
Help the fight...
In the War... Against Breast Cancer?

Just as with Samuel...
In 1Samuel 3:9...
I'm saying...
"Speak, Lord, for YOUR servant hears"...

Until Next Time...

Don't Look...Back!

I get a "Daily Devotional" that's sent to my phone...
Everyday!
Let's face it...
I can use all the "help" I can get!

It's almost 3 years...
Since my Breast Cancer diagnosis...
(November 19th-3 years,"Cancer Free!")

And, I MUST admit...

From Time...To Time...

I still "visit" that place...

The,"I was fine UNTIL I was diagnosed with Breast

Cancer"...Town

Have you ever "vacationed" there?

And, it gives me...
Some, "momentary" satisfaction...
(Keyword:...Momentary!)

Then I REALIZE...

The "futility" of...Looking Back!

In 2009, prior to my Diagnosis...

I MADE plans...

I Remember CLEARLY, saying to God...

"Just let me CONTINUE this pace for the Winter"...
(I WAS working 60+hours of OVERTIME...EVERY 2 weeks!)

Then, I said...To God, that is...

"In the SPRING...I'll TAKE time off"...
"Get SOME rest...Promise!"...

I had "THINGS"...I wanted to do...

Buy a NEW car...

Help my daughter...Buy a car...

Buy some property...

Save some money...For that "ever" popular...

Just "in case"...Fund!
(I NEVER knew...The "latter" was coming SO SOON!)

Remember that "old" saying...

"IF you want to make God laugh...Make PLANS!"

Then...I FOUND a LUMP...In October...Of that Year...

The Rest...

As Humans...
We ALL do it...

We LOOK BACK...

We "cringe" remembering...
The "idleness" of our Youth...
(That's a nice way to put it, you think?)
The "longing" for a love...
That was "never" ours to have...
The list could go on...

But, as ADULTS...
We REALIZE...
(Or simply...Give In!)
To the notion...
That ALL that "foolishness"...
Made us the "wise" adults we've become.

In Genesis 19:26...

LOOKING BACK...Lot's wife became a "pillar" of salt.
(Now I don't know about you...Salt? I'd rather not!)

That "Voice" you hear...That "harkens" you to...

LOOK BACK...

When you are feeling...Sad...Lonely...Depressed...

"Ain't" the "Voice" of God!

I always use this analogy...

When you are driving...You face forward...
Before you say it...I know...
You LOOK BACK...From time to time...
To make sure, that no one's "riding" your bumper!

But...Think about it...

You'll NEVER arrive at your Destination...
Unless you continue to drive...Forward!

Indulge Me...
For a "Moment"...

This is just for ME...

I "needed" those reminders...

I've been...LOOKING BACK, lately...

And, SOMETIMES I have to REMIND myself...

Just...How"futile" that way of THINKING is!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
(I'm DRIVING forward Again!)

Until Next Time...