Sunday, September 15, 2013

Over, Around, & Under

     Well, hello there. Happy September! I'm not exactly sure where summer went but alls well with me because it is my absolute favorite season. Boots, beanies, brilliant colors, & college football? Why, yes thank you! Plus, when you have a standard body temperature of at least 1000 degrees, you *always* welcome a cooler climate.
     Scrolling back a little bit - August 28th marked 9 years since my big brother, John David Johnson, became an angel. He was 24-years-old when he, and his girlfriend Leslie, passed away from smoke inhalation after an electrical fire...you get the point. Reliving that day & the days that followed literally makes my hands shake so I want to deter from that &, instead, tell you about the amazing brother I had for 20 years. 
     John had a heart of gold. He would (& actually did once) give someone every last dime he had. He had a contagious laugh that would make you laugh even on your darkest days. He was so absolutely in love with Leslie & loved her 3 children like his very own - they called him "Papa John" & he took that title extremely serious. He was a fantastic father even though he never had the chance to have his own biological children. My brother was so passionate about life - he knew in order to find the true strength of your soul you would have to find the way over, around, or through some roadblocks that stood in your way & he never shied away when it came to sharing his life lessons with me...even if it was 4am & I had an 8 o'clock class. I can't put into words how much I miss those "heart-to"hearts" I shared with my big brother. I miss him, I love him, & I know he is watching me from the sky.

John David Johnson
April 29, 1980 - August 28, 2004
I love you more. <3

Ok, deep breath...moving on - I had my annual colonoscopy a few weeks ago & I'm SO happy to let you know all is well! Dr. B said things look great & that it's safe to move my scopes to every 2 years unless we start to suspect something is off kilter. Speaking of colonoscopies...have YOU had one? I can't stress enough how incredibly vital they are; CRC is on the rise & early detection is key. It literally takes 30 minutes & you get to meet my good friend, Mr. Propopol, who is quite a guy. ;) 

September also means that my CT scan is only weeks away! Ah, scanxiety attack! It's not so much the scan itself that scares me - I'm actually freakishly comfortable underneath a CT, MRI, & PET scanner - it's the impending results that give me goosebumps (oh! is it goosebumps or goose pimples?? Goosepimples? I don't get it). Until then, I'm just going to keep living life, doing my best to navigate MY way over, around, & through the roadblocks that may come my way. 

Cheers,
- LISA -