It is nearly my second Thanksgiving post breast cancer. And as I remain cancer free, I have a lot to be thankful for.

And yes, like many women who have had various cancers the fear of recurrence is especially vivid during the holidays for lack of a better description.

Some women I know have been dealing with thyroid cancer, and for some of those women this is not the first time dealing with this.  (Check out The Pink Underbelly today for example.) Some others, just the PS I love you of having had breast cancer….some days it just is what it is.  You deal and you keep moving while counting your blessings.

I have one survivor friend who also survived Super Storm Sandy and watched her North Jersey community sort of blow away.   I think she is fabulous and so are the rest of my Jersey Strong gal pals who survived Sandy.

I am thankful for my friends and family and my new life (I counted my life as starting over June 1, 2011 the date of my surgery to remove my cancerous tumor.)

I am especially thankful for my family unit of sweet man, boy, and critters.  I go to bed smiling and wake up smiling and you can’t ask for more than that.

Surviving breast cancer really magnifies the thankful of it all….if you are being positive that is.  My wish for those this holiday season who look at life as a glass half empty is that they can change their perception and look at life as a glass half full.  God never gives any of us more than we can handle and if we are alive and kicking, that is a true blessing.

And no, I am not some post-breast cancer Pollyanna.  I have good days and bad days, it makes me human.  But I am a realist and I am alive.  That in and of itself is something astounding HUGE to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!