October 15
This is a corny (but oh so true) letter I wrote to Rebecca on the inside of a journal I gave her for her 19th birthday, the day before I moved from BC back to Ontario. I am the master of corny letters should you ever need one.

Rebecca,

Who knew that the day after your 19th birthday I'd be moving back home from the house we share, in our 2nd year of university together, to get cancer treatment. Really, we shouldn't be surprised. Even after all the chemo jokes, I'd comment "watch, I'll probably get cancer some day."
I guess it just goes to show how unpredictable this all is.

Part of me wants to appologize for leaving with such short notice, but another part of me wants you, as well as me, to understand that this minor glitch, temporary time-out, whatever you want to call it, will only lead us to appreciate even more the times to come. And are they ever going to come.

If I could take you, a chunk of BC, my parents, my cat, the best chemo out there and maybe a hottie McSkater, and put it all together, I would have my ideal situation right now. I know you don't need a justification for my leaving, I just want you to know where you fit in in all of this. But like a quote I've probably incorporated with you somewhere along the line, you have to first taste adversity before you can appreciate prosperity.

I'm giving you this book because I've shown myself in the past month and in the past five years how much writing things down, no matter how significant, can change things - most importantly myself. Maybe I just picked it up from your Dad's "power of the pen" lecture.

By writing down your prosperous moments, you leave yourself a first-hand account of happiness to look over when adversity strikes. It reminds you that good times do exist and you've seen them before. And vice versa, writing about adverse moments ensures you don't get ahead of yourself when the sun seems like it won't stop shining.

Every life has it's share of adversity and prosperity. By understanding and realizing you've experienced both, you can rest assured knowing that a seemingly endless flow of one doesn't mean you'll never see the other.

Right now, I'm faced with a pretty good dose of adversity but I've realized that I've come to appreciate the good days, good news, good people and good times so much more. And I know that I make adversity as bad as it is and prosperity as good as it is. And this can only be achieved by staring adversity right in the eye and knowing, from experience, that you can beat it and overcome it. Regardless of the struggle it may take, by refusing to let adversity get the best of you, you can know that one day you can stand on your own mountain, with the clouds clearing above you, and feel prosperity to such a higher level than those who have seen nothing but sunshine their whole lives.

So take in all that the clouds have to offer, it will be short-lived, but will make the sunshine seem so much brighter and exciting. I can't wait for that day.

Thank you so much for being with me through the cloudy days, and thank you so much more for celebrating the sun. Believe me, in a few months you'll see more sunshine than you could ever imagine.

Love,
Heather

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