Welcome Jennifer Carroll truly Beyond Invincible!

Welcome Jennifer Carroll.   As a journalist, she is a fantastic storyteller and she has many stories to tell! This is part one of a two part podcast.   I met Jennifer in Geneva shortly after her husband passed away from  prostate cancer.  We had the common thread of approaching cancer with positive mindset and actions.  Her sharing of the journey with her family on YouTube in a series called Following Phil was inspirational to me and I have deep gratitude that she and her family shared their journey so others could observe, learn, and appreciate what the family and Phil were experiencing.  Since then Jennifer has written books, encouraged proactive health care testing for men, traveled the world with friends and family, and continued on her quest to honor the beyond invincible legacy she created with her husband Phil.  Learn how habits developed in life, such as be positive, the chuck-it-bucket and the one thing helped sustain her as she lived a normal family life, into the world of cancer and illness and through the valley of grief and healing.  Jennifer’s new book Beyond Invincible is on kindle and hard copies available in mid October.  This link will take you to ordering her book.  Here is Jennifer’s website where you can find all of her messages and the multiple ways to communicate with her via social media and email.

Here is a poem Jennifer shared with me that she wrote shortly after Phil’s death.  I appreciate Jennifer’s strength in sharing her journey and the honesty of this poem.

Alone and Afraid

by Jennifer  Carroll

 

My life was not my own

Together we were one

I was caught in your orbit

Revolving around you

Craving your sun

 

It was my safe place

My sanctuary

My trench in the war

Beside the one I love

…The man I adore

 

Now you’re gone and…

I’m alone and afraid in a world I’ve not made

Trying to find a new sun

New purpose… new passion…new beginning

And then…

I will find my fix

And rediscover Jenn again!

 

Never did I dream, at this stage of life

We would be apart

I must keep searching to find the rainbows after the rain

And healing the hurt in my heart

 

Grief is like a shipwreck

Struggling for breath as the storm tears apart the world you know

Waves cashing down pulling you into the darkness below

You hold on tight to the wreckage

With a firm grip on never letting go

 

In time, the waves come farther apart

Not as bold, not as strong, not as fast

You can see them building from afar

You can prepare for their attack

Still desperately hanging onto the broken pieces of your past

 

Then they pass…and there is calm in the storm

You find yourself drifting, surviving, dreaming once again

Of the sun and the life that was

Not now…but back then.

 

I find strength in the memory of you holding my hand

Dancing and laughing and walking in the sand

Watching the hummingbirds

Marveling at their glory

Now, they’ve come to symbolize our story

They float free of time

Represent love and hope

 

I never want to truly let you go

Like a scar left behind from the shipwreck

A reminder to keep sailing

With all hands on deck

 

I will keep breathing, moving on and searching for the sun

There’s a flicker of light in my future

With one life over…a new one has begun.

I will always love you and miss you on this new journey of life

For the greatest blessing God gave me was you!

I loved being your lover, your friend, and your wife!

Jennifer has again inspired me.  As I approach the end of my treatment in early October, I can begin to imagine the multiple small steps back to wellness.  I look forward to posts from October forward talking about regaining physical strength and feeling back to myself.  Kind of reminds me of pregnancy – it takes nine months to have a baby – and takes time to recover.  I look forward to the recovery.

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