Lesson #1 | You can get cancer in the shoe store and you can find hope in the yoghurt isle

I found out I had aggressive cancer when I was in the shoe store. It was the first day of school, and when I had picked up the kids, I suddenly saw that where fabric should be, there was only a hole in my son’s shoe. This was a problem I could fix. Off we trekked. My 8 yo twins, and bubbly bouncy 3 year old. We were waiting in the queue, you know the one... where you are sitting with 3 tired kids waiting for your turn, when I received a call. "Noa, speaking". "It's Dr. X. Your test results are back you have aggressive cancer…." I don’t remember much – but I do remember saying thank you.

Then I sat down outside the store (children unaccounted for) on the floor of the centre. A kind lady stopped and asked if I was ok. "I have cancer", I said. Poor woman. "Can I get you water" she said? Will I still have cancer? I thought if I drink the water.

At 4pm on a Tuesday I got cancer in a shoe store.

The darkness that ensued we will talk about. But I want to tell you about the first moment that light came in.

I was in a particularly low point. I was walking around the supermarket like it was the park. Strolling. Taking in nothing. Trying to find a way back to what seemed to be a reality I used to just have access to. Isle after isle. Suddenly I got to the yoghurt section and for no visible reason, some part of me said... "it’s going to be ok".

That was it.

No profound statements. No crashing of waves. No glitter or fairy dust (bummer…I know). Just 5 words of hope. That’s when I learnt that sometimes you get cancer in the shoe store, and sometimes you find hope in the yoghurt isle.