This is really what started it all: courage, hope and inspiration.
Before The Sunday Series and my mission began to share other people’s stories with the world, there was the book.
September 26, 2013 we published our very personal journey, It Takes 2: Surviving Breast Cancer. A Spouse’s Story, a compilation of journal entries I kept as my wife Debbie battled back from breast cancer and a double mastectomy during 2012-2013. This weekend marks two years since the book first went into worldwide distribution, and the most important part, it’s now been nearly 3-1/2 years that Debbie is cancer-free.
Just yesterday there I stood at a charity event, with my daughter Sophie by my side, as Bonnie Stein, Chairwoman of the Healthcare Board for GBMC, approached us to say she read the book cover-to-cover in a single afternoon and how she thought it so rare I could tap into the feelings and emotions of the breast cancer journey and how brave Debbie was through her battle. Most importantly she said what an inspiration it would be for other people going through the same journey. It made me proud to have Sophie there to hear again why the book became a reality in the first place.
Courage, hope and inspiration. That’s the point. That’s why I wrote it. That’s why I published it. That’s why it continues to resonate, to help others along their way in the battle against the beast. To inspire others who are forced to become breast cancer warriors and survivors.
To mark the anniversary of It Takes 2 and as we stand at the doorstep of Breast Cancer Awareness Month beginning this Thursday, October 1st, I thought it appropriate to re-post the blog dedicated to the launch of It Takes 2, for this latest installment of The Sunday Series.
After all, everyone has a story.
I am Mark Brodinsky and this is The Sunday Series.
The Sunday Series (82): It Takes 2, The Worldwide Launch (Revisited)
I believe our lives and our hearts can be as big and as deep as the ocean. With that belief in mind, today I throw a pebble in the water…and make a wave.
It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Journey is officially published and launched into worldwide distribution. A dream realized, yes. But the dream doesn’t end here, remember it’s the journey not the destination. Today, the next journey begins. You, me, together making a difference. The book is just the beginning, a way to share my heart, a way to give back, a way to be transformed, my life and yours.
This is how the Acknowledgement of It Takes 2 begins:
“The Roman Poet Horace says: Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous times, would have lain dormant. If not for Debbie (my wife), her illness, her fight, her courage, and her inspiration, I never would have gone back to my roots to write, to share emotion, love, and perspective in a way which has transformed me and apparently others who have been touched by our story.”
A little more than a year and a half ago we were thrust into the nightmare of a major decision. Cancer forced our hand, and my wife forced herself to make the sacrifice too many have had to make before, to save herself and our family. It took guts, determination, fight, courage and a ton of love, not just inside our own home, but from the hundreds who helped us along the way and from the thousands who followed our journey every step of the way on the pages of my online journal. If you don’t know the story, or even if you do, when I’m done here, at the bottom of my blog, click on the link and buy the book.
I wrote a book! I think my heart just skipped a beat. It is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done in my life. I wrote Debbie a letter in the beginning of the year, as I embarked on a program called, Living Your Best Year Ever, telling her she wouldn’t recognize the person I would become by the end of 2013. I am on a journey to become more, by helping others, by sharing, by inspiring, giving back. A huge step in that direction has happened. I am an author. I am sharing a story of courage and a message of hope. And together, you and I, well the possibilities are endless. Just believe. If we show a little love, heaven knows what we can change.
A portion of proceeds from sales of It Takes 2, will be going back to a number of cancer organizations, not just those who treat, but those focused on support, education and prevention. It took two to battle the beast, it will take many, many more than that to put a stop to this illness that threatens the health of women all over the world. We need to find a way to kick this bitch down the block, so women can live their lives without fear. Women give and sustain life, they should be rewarded, not threatened by some illness and forced to fight for their own lives.
Before I wrap it up here, I just want to say one more thing, and I wish I could say it in person to each and every one of you who followed the journal and who follow and respond to this blog, (between the two we number over 200,000 views now), you have touched my heart and given my life purpose in ways you can never begin to imagine. More importantly, you have helped me find my why and my way. This blog is a labor of love like nothing I have ever felt,. It gets me up early in the morning, before the sun and it keeps me up late at night, with the moon high in the sky and the minutes sometimes ticking past midnight. And I love every minute of it. And I love you for paying attention.
When you find your passion and your purpose, you never again work a day in your life. That is my ultimate goal, and because of you, I’m getting there.
The book link is coming. So will my next book, in the not-too-distant future. My goal is to turn The Sunday Series into a book in 2016. Right now, I will be happy if you will read this one. Go ahead, come with me, toss a pebble in the water… and make a wave.
And now, the link. It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story: http://www.spouses-story.com/
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark Brodinsky, Author
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