Guest Blog Post - Erica

I met Erica at Cervivor School San Diego. At the time, I had no idea how close we would come, and how much her friendship would mean to me. Erica is a very vocal, passionate advocate for cervical cancer awareness and prevention. I am incredibly honored to call her my friend. For more of Erica's story, visit her blog at http://www.tealelfs.com/index.html.

Erica and her son Wylee

I live my life everyday with cancer.  I try to live each day with purpose, make the right choices, and lead a fulfilling life.  Does this mean I always make the best choices? Absolutely not.  While reading a book, The Earth Dwellers, I came across a quote which really spoke to me:
Although there are hundreds of shades of gray between right and wrong and good and evil, in the end it comes down to a single choice: to care or not. To care about humanity, about the pains and fears and sorrows of others, or to ignore them, to look the other way, to say “it doesn’t concern me.” I know I haven’t always made the right choices, but I hope I haven’t chosen completely wrong either, and in the end, we all die. But we don’t die equal. Not even close.

This quote is so important to the way I live my life.  It really puts into perspective that our choices matter.  Along with my cancer diagnosis there has always been a choice for me.  I could not speak out, not share my story OR I could speak out, share my story, and potentially save a life.  I could potentially save the life of someone who might not have normally gone for a well woman’s exam.  I could save the life of a child by speaking out to parents about the importance of the HPV vaccine.  This quote reminds us that we all have a choice about how to live our lives.  We can choose to care about humanity, in my case I have a goal of helping humanity by sharing my story and spreading cervical cancer awareness.  Or we can choose to look the other way when things get difficult and think “it doesn’t concern me”.  As the quote goes, “in the end, we all die.  But we don’t die equal.  Not even close.”
I hope that when I die my son is proud to say that his Mom has made a difference in the lives of others.

Living Life