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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Maura McCarthy-Sanborn</title>
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	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Paper Towels, Medical Reports and Basket Weaving, Oh My! (My Real Absurdly Unique Dad)</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/paper-towels-medical-reports-and-basket-weaving-oh-my-my-real-absurdly-unique-dad/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/paper-towels-medical-reports-and-basket-weaving-oh-my-my-real-absurdly-unique-dad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2015 07:55:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Maura McCarthy-Sanborn]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basket weaving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[embarrassing moments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[father's day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hawaii]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical journal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paper towel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unique]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7146</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s a random title, right? Yet that’s what pops into my head when I think about my Dad. He’s a simple man with a complex witty mind and I am often bewildered by the things he does and shares. Most of the time I laugh or shake my head at the stuff he comes up with, but then sometime later I realize how it truly connects to him and resonates with me. When I was younger, my dad often said “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” I know there is a great lesson in this quote, but being a snarky teenager, all I could think was, “I’m not showing you any of my friends, you will just embarrass me!” My Dad was notorious for blurting out observations and humiliating me in front of my friends. I would tell him, “When you pick me up at the movie theatre, please park at the far end of parking lot and I will find you.” Well that was all he needed to hear to do the exact opposite. He would come speeding into the theatre parking lot in his 1976 Ford F150 truck, beeping his horn loudly. Then he would park right in front and jump out waving his hands in the air yelling “Hey Maura, your cool Dad is over here!” Oh how I wanted to camouflage myself and deny any association with that crazy man! As the years passed and I finally outgrew my self-centered teenage status, I became more aware of how my Dad really is a wonderfully unique man. He was raised in New York City, the only child of Irish immigrants, whose education did not go beyond elementary school. He worked diligently to achieve and surpass his parents&#8217; accomplishments. He became a physician after studying at a medical school in Switzerland, where upon arrival he had not spoken German a day in his life, yet mastered the language quickly. He then built his own medical practice, serving a great community in New Jersey. I remember him getting phone calls in the middle of the night, talking with hospital nurses and listening intently to his patients. And among all this brilliance and compassion that I witnessed, he was still my quirky, loving Dad. My Dad loves medicine and he is fascinated by human beings and the world around us. He shares this enthusiasm by sending me copies of the Center for Disease Control reports and the Mortality and Morbidity reports (uplifting reading material!). I often get letters in the mail (yes he still uses the US Postal Service!) from him with copies of medical journal stories or excerpts from  “The Economist” about medical advancements or warfare. He says that we should all be informed and even includes my young children in what he calls “interesting fun”! Because learning about the latest disease epidemic and deaths around the world is oh so fun?!? He has an obsession with paper towels and I have no idea how it all started. There is always a paper towel in his pocket or lying on the counter nearby or on his desk or in his car or in his book. He would tell me that it is a simple multi-purpose item that can be used for clean-ups, bandages, bookmarks, notepaper, and more. If you need to find my Dad, just follow the trail of paper towels. I don’t know why Bounty never contacted the man to endorse their product! He went to Hawaii recently and came back with a new-found respect for basket weaving. Doesn’t everyone go to Hawaii and come back raving about basket weaving? Who cares about the beaches and wondrous natural beauty of the islands, let’s talk about the history of basket weaving! He copied information on the topic from his 1970s circa set of World Book Encyclopedias (who needs Google when you have outdated reference books?!) and told me to read about it for our next discussion. He even gave me samples of the material used to make baskets, that he picked up while watching workers weave. I’m holding on to this just in case I decide to make my own basket someday instead of buying one at Target! A few years ago he said, “I’d much rather have my face in a book than be on Facebook.” Well you’re not on FB, Dad, but you inspired me to write this blog because I love you and all your crazy, nutty, tender, and compelling words of wisdom. I know that through all your frankness, you are sharing a part of yourself with me and now your grandchildren too. You have raised my awareness in the world, shifted my perspectives, and exemplified keeping true to yourself even when it goes against the “norm”. You are an amazing father and role model and I will proudly show my friends to you anytime!]]></description>
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		<title>The Comedy of Cancer</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-comedy-of-cancer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-comedy-of-cancer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2015 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Maura McCarthy-Sanborn]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health/Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[breast cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Comedy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[humor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[laugh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[live]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[love]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thyroid cancer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(What’s it really like to hear you have cancer&#8230;a second time) Have you ever had that moment when your phone rings and a feeling rushes over you of “this can’t be good”? As I answered my phone in the midst of cooking a weekday dinner for my family, I heard my doctor’s voice and I just knew… there was no doubt what he was about to say was not good. I’d heard the words before and this time I casually braced myself as I continued stirring the pots on the stove. “Well it’s a good thing we did that biopsy,” he said. “It came back cancerous so we need to discuss the next steps and your options.” And right there, in that very moment, I wanted to burst out laughing. I know, it’s not what most people would do in this situation, but for me, that’s what bubbled up inside. I had just been initiated into the multi-cancer club, and my membership included a get one cancer, get another free!I I just kept thinking about the expression “sick joke”. Here I am “sick” and yet i’m just coming up with jokes. Life is already full of chaos with my 3 crazy sweet children, a budding career, and a relationship in flux, and now I have cancer AGAIN?!?! I’d like to kick cancer out into the galaxy and watch it obliterate into dust particles. It’s got absolutely no business being in me or anyone else for that matter! As the hours passed after that initial phone call, I just couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening. I’d dealt with breast cancer exactly 4 years ago, diagnosed in the same month (I really dislike May!). The first time around, I tormented myself, asking over and over, “How did I get this? What caused it? Why me? What did I do wrong?” I have no family history and live a mostly healthy lifestyle. I was utterly perplexed. Now facing cancer for a second time, in my mind is “Well I’ve been dealt this crappy hand again. I can’t avoid it. How do I want this to play out?” Simultaneously, in my heart is “I am completely full of love for my family and friends. If my number is being called up to the pearly gates soon (and I have a lot of questions to be answered when I get there!), then I’m gonna dance and be my true, best self in every possible way on this earth.” As a professional life coach, there is an abundance of self-learning with my clients, as well as insights I’ve had about myself working with my own coach. I’ve discovered how much humor and laughter are the essence of me, much like sadness and crying. They are all emotions that run deep within me, and intrinsically connect me with others. It got me thinking of going on the road and starting the Coaching Cancer Comedy Tour (insert chuckle!). And just like my cancer, drinks are buy one get one free! I’m not sure it would be a sell-out event, but it sure is how I often feel and I wonder if others may feel the same too. When my doctors told me that thyroid cancer is very treatable and “the good cancer to get”, I felt some relief. However, a second cancer growing in my body is still a kick in the gut. When I paused to listen to my gut, I realized that it is also telling me something new here. I have a new freedom to live my life. Laugh out loud (giggling as my youngest son announces to me that I need to tell more jokes!). Unfilter my voice (coach more, write and blog!). Make bold choices (book that trip to Europe I&#8217;ve been putting off!). That’s what I choose to do as I navigate the treatment to eradicate cancer once again from my body. I’m owning it and being with it. I’m claiming that cancer is here and I’m empowered by the gifts it has given me: to see clearly, to hear differently, to feel deeply and to laugh all the more, everyday. This is my mantra and I am LIVING it! &#160; &#160;]]></description>
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