Today an anniversary slipped up upon us without much thought. We just came back very late last night from our first family vacation in about eight years (to London, where the photo accompanying this post was taken) and this morning were dealing with all the fallout of that return in terms of unpacking, getting back into routines, caring for our house and animals, etc. July 1 is also Canada Day, a day we celebrate in honor of our oldest daughter’s birth in that country, and so we were honoring that day.

And then somewhere in the midst of all that jetlagged weariness the dark side of the date infiltrated my wife’s consciousness and she posted a simple message to Facebook:

Today I am a three year survivor! July 1 is the cancerversary of my surgery and the start of 18 months of breast cancer treatment….

It was indeed three years ago today that we spent the day at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center up in Lebanon, NH, as she underwent a dual mastectomy. It was, unbelievably to me, simply day surgery. She was back at home that night, albeit in severe pain and not up and around for quite some time.

It’s been a long, strange road since then.

Some parts of that journey I’ve written about here in my many posts on the topic. Other parts I’ve not shared.

Mostly, we just go on.

I’m constantly amazed by the strength my wife shows through it all, and her willingness to be more open about it than many are. She is an inspiration to me – and I know to others.

Sadly, we’ve certainly come to know that she is not alone… and that even as we celebrate a three year anniversary, others are being diagnosed and treated now… while others are celebrating longer anniversaries… and others are passing away. Cancer is indeed the scourge that keeps on taking.

Hopefully some day we won’t need to be marking anniversaries like this one.