Passing of a Wonderful Young Lady

Cailey, who had been living with stage four metastatic breast cancer for the past two and a half years, passed away on August 30, 2013. Cailey and I (her husband, Kill) had been told by her oncologist on August 9th that her liver was failing and that she only had a few weeks of life left. After that day Cailey and I strived to fill our remaining days together with as much love, life, and fun as we possibly could. We took bike rides along the banks of the Bow River in Calgary, we walked in the community of Kensington and drank tea, we sat together and we laughed. Amidst all of that we also threw a wedding in the beautiful community of Hills, BC.

Cailey was the most genuine, loving, and caring person I have ever known. I can't help but feel that the world is a sadder place without her in it, but then I think about all of the things that Cailey has taught me over the years.  She taught me to be kind to myself, but more importantly she taught me to be kind to others. She showed me that when I make sure to meet the needs of others they will in turn help me meet my needs too.

Cailey's goal in life was to find happiness each day, and although some days seemed more difficult than others, she would always find a way to do something for herself to be happy. Sometimes this just meant sitting and drinking a cup of her favourite tea or listening to her favourite song, but most of the time it meant connecting with the people in her life that meant the most to her. At a sad time like this, Cailey would have desired for everyone to take a portion of their day to be with the people they most cherish. Sit with them, laugh with them, be with them. And although Cailey's passing is tough to bear she left me with a simple statement:

"I loved you all so very much. Please miss me but don't focus on my dying because you'll do me a disservice :)"

Cailey's life was full of love, and when she passed away she was able to leave having experienced so much in her short time. She had travelled the world, she had turned her passion of teaching young people into an enriching career, and luckily for both of us she had met someone whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. It is rare to have had such a short but rich life. It was an honour to have been a part of it with her as it is an honour to be writing this letter to you all now.

I love you and I miss you Cailey.

Kill

Triggering a Hot Flash

Yesterday, grandma Sanka called and told me about all of our friends and family who can no longer read this blog because of the porn website redirect.  It straight up, triggered a hot flash which I often get from stress or embarrassment. I'm so frustrated with the internet and I feel so unknowing because this problem is more difficult to remedy than I had hoped. I am confident that I lost the rights to www.youngladyoldcancer.com for the year because my credit card information changed when my Visa was stolen in Mexico and now I have to redirect the blog to a new domain (a new www.) It will happen but it will take a few more days. I miss you guys too and I'm sad about both my stupidity and the difficulty involved with internet log-ons and such.

On the upside, totally got a win this week when a great friend from school recognized me. That never happens anymore. My favorite teachers don't, my friends from high school typically don't, and I can slip undetected into all of the malls that I've been banned from. That last one was a test because I would never jeopardize my access to shopping malls. You may have realized that I spend a copious amount of time in shopping malls. Sharve, one of my college roommates, says that my cheekbones and jaw look different now that I'm skinnier but I still feel that I look the same. I guess that some people are just good at facial recognition. They should use that skill to create a lucrative career in spy work.

Wish me luck,
Cailey