wow : nice thoughts for the new year. Mhupe, you sound like one of those people whom the cancer ordeal has deepened and made better. I identify more with those of the "Cancer made me a shallower person" genre (my favorite cancer cartoon book) but then I favor humor to alleviate the fear and pain. You are right though that the important thing is to start a new story to go along with the "new normal". I think though the difference between your experience and many others here is that for far too many OCF posters, unfortunately the answer to your first question of being surrounded by "wonderful people" is a resounding "NO". The major attraction of this forum is the wonderful people in this virtual neighborhood.