This Journey of Mine

Yes I am still here !

4 1/2 years ago I was half way through 2 months of daily  radiation and into my 4th month of Chemo.

I thought about this today as I hiked uphill  1 1/2 miles on that old logging trail I use for my morning workout.

Every weekend my wife, i and our dog Lena would drive home Friday after Radiation, a 5 hour drive from Boston to our home in  the Adirondacks, so I could hike 15 miles into the Boreas Ponds Wilderness on Saturday just to drive back the 5 hours to Boston on Sunday. Repeating that routine every weekend for 2 months.. As a family we all heeded the call, even our trusty and ever  so faithful 18 year old dog Lena, who at 18 became a certified therapy dog. She  stayed by my side until she knew I made it through the most difficult time of my life, and then passed away.

The day I had found out I had cancer, I sat in our living room numb, looking out towards our apple trees in our backyard. Underneath one of the apple trees was a very large Black Bear sitting upright staring at me. We were connected, both  engaged, staring deep into each other, for over 45 minutes before he stood up a slowly walked away.

I felt revived, I felt I had the power now to face everything. I called a friend , head of the “Bear Society” at the 6 Nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora.) for guidance. He spoke of the  healing power of the Bear and that  he came to heal the “Wolf”, my Totem. The rest of this story is too personal and to be kept.

I am grateful to be still alive, for nature and the power of the other world that is not attached to the temporary. Today I followed a moose that was followed by a Coyote. and followed by, the Wolf.

It was  appropriate.