I am still so ecstatic about making the 6 year mark. I didn’t feel this way at 5 years. Maybe I was afraid I’d jinx myself if I got too excited at 5 years? But maybe now it’s okay to let myself feel more comfortable, to feel that maybe I really DID make it. Maybe I can even consider contemplating the “cure” word.

Just trivia. I remember thinking a little over 5 years ago that I was committing fraud. I’d been diagnosed with the cancer. I’d been gently told I was not likely to live a whole lot longer. But we needed a new car. I kind of thought that before long I might accumulate enough medical debt that no one would be interested in loaning us money. So, before I went for the big surgery, we purchased a new vehicle. We signed the loan papers committing to make the payments for 5 years. As I signed the papers I remembered feeling very dishonest. The term of the loan was longer than my life expectancy.

I remember making the final payment on that loan. It was so great to write that check.