I wrote the song in the video below the day we learned that Wakitu had cancer. It was the day the world changed, as did my outlook on the future. We are realists. No matter what comes our way we take a moment and say, "Here we are" and take it from there. So we reevaluated what is important and committed to making our remaining time together as delightful as our years together had been. Some goals we pushed up, some goals we pushed back, some we just let go.

Now, after the struggle and all the treatments and doctors and pain, she is virtually cancer free. She still has it; most "survivors" do. The key here is the scan shows that it has not progressed and is not a risk to her life or vital organs at this time. The treatments worked how they were supposed to. How cool is that?

The scans are a very cool technology that actually lets us see the difference as we moved through the stages. Chemo and radiation, then Keytruda was what worked for us. A fairly new drug, there are some unfortunate side effects, however, it seems they will be manageable and things may actually get back to "normal" for a while. Our new normal that is. Our simpler, stress free, joy of life that lets us enjoy the little everyday things that go by. Our renewed commitment to do the things we've always talked about doing, to visit places we've talked about going to. Places right near home we've driven by a hundred times and never stopped in. Ride the silly swan pedal boats out on the lake in the middle of the city at sunset perhaps.

As much as we enjoyed our very public lifestyle, with gigs and dinners and meetings and the house full of people all the time, the isolation of the last two years has been very nice. We laugh a lot. Our revised list of goals is simpler now and our appreciation for the little things has grown immensely. We cook delicious dinners for each other and have date nights in instead of out. We have learned to be alone together when we need space. We have leaned on each other in so many ways as caregivers and receivers. Our relationship is stronger than ever, having survived as well.

We are so lucky to have been where we were in life when things went south. Wakitu worked remotely through the whole affair. I canceled my tour but that gave me time to move. Remember at the beginning of all this we were finishing up the Nurian's Nest treehouse and then moving out of the Magic House we'd been in for nearly 30 years. We were blessed to have had the means to do all that at once. We are so thankful for all the help and support of our friends and neighbors and shoppers who kept us safe and stayed away. It has been so hard not to hug your necks. The butt bumps have been the next best thing.

So, here we are. We aint dead yet. We still have some troubles. I still have Grave's disease, she still has emphysema, we still also have each other. Together we got to here and here we are. We aint going nowhere... at the moment.