2013 REVIEW

2013? That was so yesterday. 

It was a year in which I wrote 30 fewer blog posts than I did in 2012. The year I forgot my diagnosis anniversary. The year I started focusing on other stuff. Stuff I haven't felt a need to write about. And that, my peeps, is progress. (For me.) 

I did review the 50 posts I managed to pen in 2013, and found a few snippets to highlight here...

To recap, here is why:

• I blog
• I feel invisible
• I hate rashes
• I believe in friends & funerals
• I'm put off by + thinking
• Anxiety and resiliency are a perfect match 

♥ As much as I try to add some levity, it has been a shockingly, unbelievably awful year for too many others that I know. So I'm sending some V.B.H. {{{very big hugs}}} to.

• Karen the Commenter, whose husband Hugh died suddenly in May. Still swimming in grief, Karen was then diagnosed with a second cancer: uterine.

• Shannon of Green Monkey Tales, who was diagnosed with a second cancer as well: rectal cancer in May. A few months later she learned that her marriage died.

• Kate of The Adventures of OBB, who found out in February that her breast cancer had recurred.

• Catherine of Bumpy Boobs, who learned in July that her breast cancer had metastasized.

• Katy of Katy Did Cancer, who also discovered in July that her breast cancer had recurred. 

• Brooklyn of A Pain in the Neck, who was diagnosed in March with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

• and Yvonne, of Time to Consider the Lilies, who was widowed in November following the sudden death of her husband, Ken. 

♥ Everyone has a story. While those mentioned above were dealt devastating news in 2013, many others have been dealing with the devastation of Stage IV cancer all year long. These lovely folks include Lisa and Ann and Jan and Scorchy and T.K. and Lori and Jody and Kate. I could (unfortunately) go on and on. Please, check out my "RENN'S FAVORITE 'BIG C' BLOGS" section on the right side of this blog. You'll find links to these and many other fine bloggers. Show your support by reading their words, leaving a comment, and learning from their journeys. 

♥ Finally, I would like to pause to acknowledge the passing of four breast cancer bloggers in 2013 who touched my world:

• RIP Debbi Chapman Dempsey

• RIP Cindy Bellinger

• RIP Jennifer Ledda Vennes

• RIP Donna Peach