The two “C’s” are part of the most difficult and happiest times of my life in the last five years. On February 1, 2017 I was diagnosed with cancer, the “big” C that no one wants to hear spoken. After 8months of difficult treatments of chemo, high dose chemo, radiation and stem cell replacement therapy at Sunnybrook and Princess Margaret Hospitals I survived my lymphoma cancer!! I have been in remission for 5 years. Part of my thought process to survive this terrifying disease was planning my hopes and dreams for my future. My will to survive was based on the fact that that I just had to see to see my sons grow up. Living very close to the Unionville Curling Club I always wondered if I could play. I was athletic as a child but stopped in adulthood giving over my spare time to raising my sons with their sports. I was surrounded by everyone else having fun. It was now my time. My best friend and her husband curled in Kingston plus my own dentist curled too so I heard about it a lot. I also discussed this with one son and he told me that he was curling in University (Queens in Kingston so away from home). When he moved back home he then met a lovely girl who was a ‘little rocks’ curler so the fire was fuelled a bit more. I went to see them play in a fun bonspiel in March 2018. That sold me on thinking “I can do this”. I signed up at Unionville for their wonderful Learn to Curl program in 2019 knowing nothing and no one. I had faced my fear of cancer so facing my fear at being new at curling was not as big of a deal as it would have been before my cancer.
I am now in my third year of curling (off one year for the pandemic). It has been wonderful. Since I took up curling, my zest for living life to the fullest has returned. I am now curling 3-4 times per week and I have encouraged others to join and they have! I even try to volunteer as often as I can with the Unionville Curling Club. It is not just the curling but the new friendships in a supportive environment that makes curling so special. So, I owe a special thanks to the second “C” in my life, curling.
I faced my first C and survived and now I am am enjoying my second C more than I could have expected.