I call my grandmother Nanny because her soul is too young and free to be called grandmother. This woman has a heart made of gold and a mind full of wisdom. She is my person and my inspiration. She understands and loves me unconditionally. We share a special kind of bond that I have yet to establish with anyone else. Her childhood was not easy, but she has grown through her experience. She has been everything I needed in a grandmother as I grew up. She continues to encourage my passions and support my dreams.

Nanny was diagnosed with lung cancer recently, it was devastating. After receiving this news, I saw a glimpse of Nanny I had never seen before. She was tired and discouraged. At this point, there were two options: let cancer take her life or to fight cancer. Not that the dying option would be simple, but the chemo and radiation option would present a whole other set of struggles.

Nanny did not like the idea of dying, it did not follow what she stands for, so the decision to live was made. Watching Nanny fight her cancer was far from easy. I could only attempt to imagine what she was experiencing. There were good days and there were bad days. Times seemed to be hard when the bad days came consecutively, which seemed to be the pattern they followed. However, she modeled perseverance and strength like I have never seen before. She did not miss one doctor's appointment, even on her toughest days. When she felt weak, when her hair fell out, and when everything tasted like cardboard, she pushed through. She maintained her grace and her faith. We will find out soon if Nanny has conquered cancer. I have a good feeling about it.

I believe that this story is very relevant to all of our lives. Although we may not be battling cancer, we are given the choice every day to simply go through the motions or to truly live life to the fullest. Like Nanny revealed, choosing to live may be the best decision of our lives because life is precious. God has blessed us all with this plane ticket to the journey of life. Why sell our plane ticket when we can take a trip to any destination we can imagine. Life is filled with an unlimited amount of opportunities. I encourage you to look at every day like it is something new and interesting, like it is spectacular, and like it is the best day ever. I have discovered that this way of living is a mindset. You have a life worth living! There will be those days when we are challenged with things that we once thought were unfathomable. However, we should not let these barriers slow us down, but they should give us a reason to keep going. These challenges will be hard and uncomfortable, but overcoming these obstacles is how we as people grow and reach our full potential. Life comes with bumps in the road, it comes with poison ivy on the path, and it comes with turbulence on our plane ride. However, we should not shy away or hold back, we should face life head on and achieve the unthinkable.

Life is precious. Every day you have left is a gift, cherish it and live it to the fullest.

So thank you Nanny for showing a beautiful aspect out of something devastating. Thank you for sharing that life is valuable. I am so grateful for the impactful life you live. I love you and believe in you!