It’s been a while folks, so let me first apologize for the long gap between posts.  I’ve had quite a bit going on these last few months, not the least of which is the complete upheaval of my life as I knew it.  Many of you may (or may not) know that 3 months ago I took the big step of relocating to South Florida. The transition while welcomed has not been without its challenges but all in all I have absolutely no regrets.  Some days I still have to pinch myself.  One year ago if you had told me that this is how things would end up, I would never have believed it.

You see today marks the one year anniversary of the start of my cancer treatment journey, the day I had my mastectomy.  On December 12, 2017 at 8:30 am with the support of my sister and closest girlfriends, I was wheeled into the operating room at the Tony Thwaites Wing of University Hospital of the West Indies for what would be the most overwhelming experience of my life to date.

Seems petty now but I remember before heading to the hospital how I stood in front of the mirror for 30 minutes just staring at my two breasts thinking “this is the last time I’m going to see myself like this for a while”.  And yes…I took pictures of myself.  Funny I hadn’t looked at them at all until just last week and I have to admit I didn’t recognize the person in those pictures.  So much has changed.

I’ve said this before but it bears repeating.  Cancer is the wake up call I needed to make a much needed shift in my life.  Personally and professionally.  For years I’d lived in the shadows of others around me, fulfilling other people’s dreams and deferring my own. But God has a way of showing you that he is the one in the driver’s seat, all you have to do is trust and believe.  The truth though is that while I was going through chemo I felt very alone.  I had the support of friends but I still had to deal with its ravages by myself for the most part.  Another ugly truth that I have to live with for the rest of my life is that cancer could come back.  I pray that it doesn’t but I have to be prepared nonetheless.  With most of my immediate family living in the United States I came to the realization during my chemo journey that if cancer were to come back, I didn’t want to be on my own again.  At the time I had no idea of what was to come but I surrendered it all to the Almighty and simply prayed for a good outcome.

In August, after months of feeling like I was floundering, deliverance came in the form of the job offer of a lifetime.  Your girl is the new Events Director of Irie Weekend Management Company, part of a group of companies owned by celebrity DJ and Mr. Miami himself DJ Irie (If you don’t know who that is, I suggest you google him…no joke).

The offer required that I relocate back to the US, bringing me closer to my family, exactly what I prayed for (even though at the time I had no idea what I was praying for would look like).  I’m now 3 months in, my first production on the books (a country music festival, go figure) and now in the throws of planning the 15th Anniversary of Irie Weekend slated for late June 2019.

Seriously, what a difference a year makes?!