I’ve written articles for this website for several years and every now and then an old piece is pushed out on social media for another day in the sun. I’m always slightly nervous about reading the old stuff, particularly when the writing is not quite as good as it should be.

The last piece that popped up on my social media feeds was one published in January 2020 just before the pandemic upended our lives. It has a snappy title: Four Rules for a Happy Life. Cancer and a happy life, really, how does that work?

My tone when talking about cancer

At the risk of sounding overly pleased with myself, I thought it read quite well. I reposted the link to my social media sites, and it got some traction. One writer even shared a poem, though the majority of people who interacted posted pictures of their dogs, which is something I am by no means against. This flurry of pooches was triggered by me posting a photo of my mutt Rusty, my excellent cancer companion.

All of which spurred me to read a few more of my pieces. The one thing that really struck me is how the tone of my articles is pretty constant, even if the content is quite different. I always strive to be humorous and upbeat and attempt to accentuate the positive wherever I can.

Read on…