Post-Op Day 9 - Inspiration

Last night, I posted this in the group after I wrote in my journal. I wanted to share it:

Tonight I received an e-mail from my hero - Astronaut Mike Fincke.
Mike and I bonded in the months following the Columbia accident when
he and I did a media tour of his hometown of Pittsburgh.

We spent several days together going from one media outlet to
another. We also went to a Pirates game, where he threw out the first
pitch. In that time, we found that we were kindred spirits, and our
friendship has lasted to this day. He is so personable, humble,
thoughtful and, most of all, incredibly positive.

Mike is so thoughtful and fun that he took my Hello Kitty to space
with him when he went to live aboard the Space Station this past
April for six months.

Anyway, I haven't seen Mike much because he's been super busy since
returning to Earth. I've kept him in my email loop regarding my
surgery. I've received several emails from his wife telling me they
were both cheering for me. But, it wasn't until tonight I heard from
him telling me he's been thinking about me and he's glad to hear that
I'm feeling better.

I decided to use the opportunity to write him a letter thanking him
for inspiring me on this journey. Knowing how everyone here
understands the fears involved with the surgery, and yet we still
push forward, I thought you might be able to relate to what I wrote
him:

***

Mike -

That's sweet you've been thinking of me. I appreciate the thoughts
very much. I won't lie - the first day was filled with horrible pain.
After that, each day just gets better and better.

When I was contemplating the surgery, I kept thinking about how
afraid I was, even though I wanted this so badly and knew this was
where my next phase of life needed to be.

Often, I would think of you and how you must have felt before
blasting off into space and giving up your life here on Earth to live
aboard the Station for six months. It's so dangerous and life-
altering - in a weird way, much like my situation.

I know there had to be an ounce of fear lurking inside of you
somewhere (even though you never showed it), but you knew with all
your heart that you were about to do something you wanted more than
anything. You refused to let your fear overtake your vision and goal.
Instead, you adopted an amazingly positive attitude and you used that
energy to create the most successful Expedition thus far.

I gathered a lot of strength from your example, and I realized that
life is too short to hide from your fears when they stand between you
and your goal. So, like you, I just went for it. I am working on
keeping my positive attitude as well. I wanna be just like Mike. :-)

Thank you for yet again inspiring me Mike. You're very good for me.
Scary huh? hehe

See you soon!

Hugs,
M

Today, I recevied this wonderful post back from a lady in the group:

Dear sweet melissa,

I am so glad that you are doing so well...WOW!!! Have you been using your
tremendous writing talent in your present job? If not, you've missed your
calling!! You are so elequent and "open and honest" in your e-mails which
express the feelings and emotions that many of us who have been through the
surgery have experienced.

My prayers are with you and rejoice with you my sister!

Love and blessings,
Linda

And so I wrote this in response...

awww thank you Linda. *blush* This email means so much to me!

I don't get to write as much as I use to. However, in exchange, I get
to motivate and be a positive force for my team of 21. I oversee
communications and outreach in the Public Affairs office at NASA, so
luckily - even if I am not writing - I am able to lead a group of
creative people.

My background is journalism, and I started out as a daily newspaper
reporter who worked the crime beat. Doing that for three years really
opened up my eyes.

Most who don't know me well think I am a Pollyanna who is an over-the-
top optimist. In actuality, I am a total realist. I just choose to
create my own world, and I chose to make it a positive one. I've seen
enough battered women, car wrecks and dead bodies in my life to know
that I've got it really, really good, and I choose to be thankful for
that and to work with what I have.

After working as a media relations specialist for Goodwill Industries
of Kentucky (another eye-opening experience), I returned to the
newspaper as lifestyle editor. I was able to write a column then, and
I decided to make it more than just me rambling.

In 1999, I read a huge article where a reporter did an end-of-life
story with a woman dying of cancer. While it was so sad, it
felt...sterile. First of all, the article was published after the
woman died - so she never saw it. Plus, it lacked true feeling.

I then prayed and told God that if He ever trusted me, I would want
to do a similar article - but I would give it my heart and soul. I
wanted to show what one life means in this world.

I then let it go, thinking that sometime down the road He would give
me an answer. Well, not more than a week passed, a general phone was
ringing in the newsroom that anyone could answer. I picked it up and
on the other end was a woman telling me how her beloved friend Angie
was dying of cancer. She wanted to know if we could publicize her
benefit event.

The woman talked about how wonderful, sweet and open Angie is, and
how tragic her terminal illness is. I then felt bold and asked her if
she thought her friend would be interested in being featured in the
paper. The woman said, "Angie would LOVE it."

I soon knocked on Angie's door. When she opened it, I knew God had
given me an answer.

I spent almost eight months writing a series of columns about Angie,
a 31-year-old single mother of two. She had an amazing spirit that
cancer had to work overtime to kill. Once she was incoherent, I then
turned my focus on her mother.

I spent many nights as Angie hovered between life and death. I had a
lot of time do some thinking about my life. When Angie died, I was
devastated. However, I took with me the reality that we all have very
little time to make the most of what we're given.

So, I left an unhappy marriage to a really good man (just not the
good man for me). After meeting Scott online, talking to him for six
months before meeting, and then spending eight more months traveling
back and forth from Indiana to Houston, I picked up my life and moved
down here.

I lucked into my job at NASA, and the rest is history. And I never
looked back.

Life is about taking chances and calculated risks. That's why I
admire everyone in this room for even considering the surgery -
whether you've had it or not. To consider it means that you are
willing to do probably the boldest thing you've ever done in your
life for a shot at a better way of life.

To face the fact that we're so overweight we get the title "morbidly
obese" was, for me, excruciatingly difficult. We try so hard to
compensate for it. However, this surgery gives us a way to use that
energy to OVERCOME it.

I have felt compelled to write a daily motivational book for a long
time. I feel like God gives me sometimes great insight into the human
spirit - more than I could ever see on my own. Sometimes I hate it,
because I see things I don't want to see. However, most of the time,
what I see allows me to connect with people on a very deep level - as
deep as they want to connect that is.

Anyway, I've rambled enough about me. I just wanted you to understand
where I come from with my writings and what I say. Angie's story
taught me many lessons in life. I just don't live for me, I live for
her too.

Thank you
Melissa

P.S. If you want to read Angie's Story, here's the link:
http://members.aye.net/~davis/angie.htm

This is an old site. My email address listed there is not valid. But
the story is all there in its entirety.

Thank You God for the life experiences you have given me. Each one, good and not so good, all had a purpose in my life.