Happy New Year! I am a cancer survivor.

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2015 to you! When you were born in 1954, just writing 2015 seems unimaginable but here it is! Perhaps when I consider that my birth occurred in the Eisenhower Administration it is time to recognize that time has indeed passed and quickly. Perhaps the major lesson cancer has taught me is to dig in,  enjoy each day, and savor every experience. The holiday season was filled with so many wonderful expressions of love from family and friends.

As you may know, Sami and I decided to take a sabbatical year from softball coaching as she needs to finish her Master's Degree at Western Oregon University to keep teaching and I remain in 'negotiation' with cancer as to how big a role it will play in my life. I read an article and listened to a video presentation from Stanford University that was sent to me by my close friend Dr. Michael Finley of the Western Health Sciences University. He is the friend that provided early heads-up to me on the drugs I have taken, Yervoy, and Keytruda. The Stanford Health Professional said that their community considers anyone who has, or has had, cancer and is alive as a cancer survivor.

Words have power, and language creates reality. Can you imagine how helpful and encouraging that was to me to say to myself, "I am a cancer survivor!"? As I sit in our bedroom on the couch in front of a warm fire, I am warmed by the burning wood and these words. I am surviving and better still, living! Our Principal Matt Boring and Athletic Director Bob Holt told us when we talked that they would approve a sabbatical, not a resignation, because the work we had done with the young women in our program had empowered them to succeed on the field and in life. Last Saturday we held a 2014  Team Reunion Dinner at our house and each of our Seniors now First Years are happy with their collegiate choice and experience. Three of the team members will be playing college softball. Seven of them were First Team Academic All Americans! Language matters, and when you tell students they can, then they will!

I am a cancer survivor.

Samantha decided that since we would not be on the field this year we should be in the stands and she purchased two tickets for us to attend the NCAA Women's College Softball World Series in May and June held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This will be our second trip to OKC but our first to the World Series. I was blessed to watch Sami and her Oregon Panthers softball team play in the National ASA Gold Championships. Christa, who was with us, said, "I knew you would cry Dad." She was right. This Spring's trip will be a special time and give us a chance to see the College Coaches who have become friends through my speaking. I hope many of them are on the field coaching.

Christa, JJ, Hannah, and Donna were generous in giving me gifts that included books on the Tao, The Mandans, and the Comanches. I love to read on my train trips. Since Grandpa Alvin passed, we have cooked and prepared meals with dull knives, so I received a knife sharpener from JJ and a cool cooking dish from Grandma. Grandpa would have been 80 on January 5th and we miss him every day. He remains a role model to me on what it means to be a man. The Eide family was very generous in their gift giving and Lynnie Evans, herself a cancer survivor, made me a great blanket to stay warm. She and the Evans and Herb clan have shown us an amazing way for a family to come together and survive cancer. My hair stylist Amy won't let me pay for any haircuts. She said I have free haircuts for life. I told her that could cost her a lot or a little. You have to find the humor in life!

I am a cancer survivor.

The memory that will stand out for me is the one involving my Granddaughter Addie. She and her brother Harvey, at 3 and at 1 respectively, give me reason to live, to negotiate, to find hope in the night when the voice of the Dark One asks me how much time I really think I have. We went to First Christian Church to watch the Children's Program as Christa had taken Addie to participate. Addie, of course, was cast (chose!) as an Angel. She has always had that role for me. A week later Christa took Addie to Sunday School as she had had a great time the week before. Emily Herb, one of our former students and John and Lynnie Evans daughter, was teaching about the Epiphany, the star, the Magi, and the meaning of the season. Christa walked in to hear Addie add, "That's right. The Ballerina threw her shoe at the Rat King, then the Nutcracker made him go away. And the Grinch tried to steal Christmas but the Grinch turned out to be a good guy." Emily, with the grace of a great teacher said, "That's right Addie. All these stories are about faith, and love, and redemption." Can you imagine what might have happened if Emily had told her she was wrong or off topic? But she didn't. She integrated what Addie had to offer into the story that we Christians believe is sacred and made a little girl feel like she fit in.

Love, faith, and redemption. In the end, we have our family, faith, and friends. Along with a great doctor, Dr. Matt Taylor at OHSU, and new medicines that show amazing promise, I am lifted up each day by your friendship, your prayers, your love, and my belief that in my hour of need, my God will not forsake me. I want you all to know, whatever you believe in (and please know that I support and affirm great diversity of belief), that I will believe until my last breath that I will be healed by my doctors, my nurses, the researchers, by God, prayer, and your support. You are important to my healing. Your kindnesses give me hope and an answer in the night. You help me say "Yes!" Please do not think for one moment that your efforts are not a huge part of why I am doing so well. The side effects of the chemos I have taken can be devastating but have been gentle to me. Your prayers, your positive thoughts matter!

"I trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?"    Psalm 56:11

What you have done for me is give me hope. Keep it up. Please. And thank you for the time, talents, and gifts you have given our family. You have made me feel, as Martin Buber eloquently said, as if I am "clad in a silver mail of trust." My God, my family, and you my friends constantly remind me of what is good in life and that I am a cancer survivor. You have blessed me with the support I needed.
I take each step each day in gratitude for you.

I am Will Keim, your friend, Dad, husband, Grandfather, teacher, coach, cousin, and brother. And I am a cancer survivor!

Blessings,

Will Keim