Shirley (Jones):  

August 2022 Happy to say I am one year in remission. Four years to go and I can claim to be cancer free! Am singing Gloria Gaynor’s song, “I Will Survive!” DECEMBER 2020 It's hard to write this, but I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately it wasn't found before it spread. Surgery was successful; chemo is ugly, but if it works I'm grateful for whatever additional time it gives me. Hard to believe our 50 year reunion is coming up. I don't feel any older inside but my body reminds me that I am. My daughters are amazing and very protective of me. They are so loving and caring. They insist on bringing me groceries, driving me to chemo and staying with me, and helping around the house. What more could any mother ask for? I am so blessed. Life doesn't always turn out the way we dream of in our younger years, but the one thing cancer has taught me is to not look at life in the rear view mirror.. Today is what matters so live without regret. NOVEMBER 2019 I decided it was time to stop being vain and accept I'm now a senior citizen so I posted photos in celebration of accepting the good in being in my second childhood. Just think - we can play like a kid again even if it is with our grandchildren. We can retire and enjoy what time we have left on this earth (in spite of aches and pains). We get senior discounts almost everywhere. Sure, there are more than one bottle of meds sitting on my nightstand, but a few years ago I was lying in bed in the hospital's ICU unit with my children at my bedside and heard the doctor tell them I had about 24 hours left to live. I prayed. Hard. Very hard. And after 3 months in the hospital I'm happy to say I beat the odds. Now, every morning when I wake up on the top side of the dirt is a good day. It's lonely being a widow for so many years but I will never marry again. I've finally learned that no man I have met since graduating from high school can hold a candle to the love of my life back then, and believe me I searched hard. He's happily married so ...Expand for more