Steve & The Old Timers
Nope, it’s not the hottest new band to blaze through the Spotify charts; Steve & The Old Timers is what I think to myself most days around 1:30/2PM.
The isolation of fighting cancer in your 30s is real. And on typical weekday afternoons while my friends and family are busy with their careers, I’m walking laps with Penny Lane where along these strolls, I’ve noticed the elderly neighbors by my apartment crowd the benches like clockwork. They all seem to know each another and there's a ton of friendly banter, like right out of a scene from Cheers. You've got the chatty security guards chiming in with one joke after the next... I have to admit, half the time I'm sitting there as a jealous outsider!
There’s definitely something to be said about connection. No matter our unique journeys, we're all human and crave consistent contact by nature. I'm incredibly grateful for my friends and family who still make it a priority to stay in touch and get together. Especially because we're all taking on more responsibility as we age and relationships take work. Alot of work. I don't believe this is unique to fighting cancer.
That said, my support system has gone above and beyond since the diagnosis, and Kori and I harbor serious guilt for not being able to reciprocate to our standards. We NEVER take it for granted and are doing our best to play catch up, slowly but surely. I guess that's the thing— relationships will have their peaks and valleys. You can't always be on, or have it in you to give back to others every second. What matters most is that you never let the flame completely die out.
I still can’t help but think that in a perfect world, our relationships with friends and family grow even stronger with age. At least that's my vision. We should all be so lucky to have great people in our day to day lives.
We should all be as lucky as the Old Timers.
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