It’s All About Perspective
This is the latest perspective my husband, Kyle, gave to me:
“You’re going to have good things and bad things that happen throughout any day, but that’s life.”
Spoken from a true man who is a master at compartmentalizing. I wonder if this is something Soldiers learn in the Army or is this just a superpower that all men have? Either way, he’s not wrong, and it did put this experience of surviving cancer in a clearer perspective.
I am happy to report that I am cancer free!
Which is interesting, because the last time I wrote, April 2022, I was telling you the unfortunate news of being diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer.
Of course, I could write in length of the trials and tribulations of my cancer journey. I could talk even further of all the joy and peace I felt through God’s grace and mercy that touched me and many around me throughout these past nine months; but, I won’t.
However, if you are interested in viewing my story you can click here and my husband will walk you through each week every step of the way.
Speaking of my husband…
He surprised me by getting us a live tree for Christmas this year. I have been asking for years, but he has always been very cautious while living on post housing as well as the apartments we’ve lived in throughout the years, always nervous about a potential fire.
However, this year, Fort Campbell’s MWR hosted a “Tree for Troops” tree shop, where with a military ID you could pick up a free live tree.
The program allowed the junior ranking, E1-4 to have first pick and the higher ranking pick out of what was remaining.
We found a fine tree, small and full with a little note from a 5th grader that wrote, “Merry Christmas, thank you for your service”.
The whole scene in picking up our tree was not anything you’d see in a hallmark Christmas movie, in fact it resembled more of the COVID “swab” line, that wrapped around an abandoned parking lot near the parade field.
We waited in our truck while the soldier on duty checked our IDs and directed us to the shortest line. As sterile as it felt, the warmth was not found in the environment despite the balmy 50 degrees of a Tennessee December.
The warmth was in the smiles that greeted us.
The smiles of the couples holding hands walking from their car to the metal chain linked fence. The warmth was in the children that, like me, touched every tree to see if it felt like the right one for their home.
The warmth of my husband’s lips that pressed up against mine, after getting back into the truck with our very own live tree nuzzled in the back, short enough to shut the tailgate and thin enough to secure the tonneau cover back into place.
Yes it is easy to notice the “bad” things, the things that frustrate, irritate, and inconvenience us, but there is good there too. I encourage you this holiday season to slow down and use all five of our senses: look for the smile, feel the warmth of the sun on your face or the cool snow as you cup it in the palm of your hand watching as it melts from a solid to a liquid.
Smell the pine needles and the holiday treats, and listen for the birds in a distant tree; the birds who ask for nothing and still delight us in a beautiful melody 365 days of the year.
Finally, taste, the freedom of our liberties in being able to choose freely which holiday we wish to celebrate.
Happy Holidays from my family to yours. -Justine Rhene Kaneris
Inspired by: 
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? -(Matthew 6:26)
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