You've Got a Friend in Me

FPU at Joana's Wedding - Summer 1991

As the news of this cancer diagnosis slowly started to sink in and become our new reality, we knew that we would have to eventually tell other people.  I was trying to wait as long as possible so that I would be armed with more information and be able to answer questions.  However, within a couple of weeks I decided to tell a very special group of girlfriends – the FPU.  (Don’t even ask what that stands for by the way.  There is a bad four-letter word involved.)
Anyway, these are my dear friends from high school and we have been friends forever it seems.  Well at least since grade nine anyway.  We try to get together whenever it’s possible but over the years due to university, marriages, pregnancies, kids, jobs, etc…we are lucky if we can all see each other for a visit even once a year.  No matter how much time passes between visits we always seem to just pick up where we left off.  I guess that is how it is with friends that have known each other since the age of 14 and have seen each other at our best and at our worst.  It is just comfortable and it feels like home.  Whenever we do finally manage to get together we have so much fun!

FPU in New York City - Fall 1991

In 2006 we were all (most of us) turning 40.  Not sure how that happened because I am pretty sure in our minds we are still 25 and fabulous!  Anyway, since this was a big year for us we were in the process of planning a long weekend getaway.  We had finally nailed down a weekend and booked a chalet for 10 of us in Mont Tremblant, Quebec for September.  Now that I had this stupid cancer, I was so hoping that I wouldn’t have to miss the trip.  I really wanted it to work out.  This group of friends was one piece of my past and my present and my future that I wasn’t willing to give up.  These ladies have known me for years.  We met as teenagers and grew into adults so that we could get together once in a while and act like kids.  I couldn’t imagine not having them in my life.  They say that one in nine women gets breast cancer.  I guess I’m the one in our group.

FPU on a Houseboat in the
Rideau Lakes - Summer 1993

I couldn’t bear to call them all one by one.  I called my dear friend Trish and then decided that I was not going to repeat myself on the phone again.  So I opted to write to them and explain what was going on with me.  That’s when I started to use email as my method of choice to communicate with friends and family and provide updates throughout the journey.
I realized that whenever I tried to tell people about the fact that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, it always felt like I was talking about someone else.  This could not possibly be happening to me because these things only happen to other people right?  WRONG! You've Got a Friend in Me - Randy Newman