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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, October 4, 2012 · 6 The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West David harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Website www.oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of Continued from page 1 Guest Column Making the most of Bonus Days has spread to my lungs and chest. It is an aggressive disease that requires aggressive treatment. A series of five daily radiation treatments should begin this week. That treatment is aimed at the growths in the jaws and cheek. To combat the disease in the lungs, chest and other areas of my body, I have applied for acceptance in a new experimental drug therapy program. My oncologist says this new program is my best option for a fighting chance and that's all I'm looking for -- a fighting chance. Currently, I am at the Juravinski Hospital. I am under the care of a dedicated team of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. The support from family, friends, coworkers and colleagues has been overwhelming. Besides being a daily companion at my side giving me strength, purpose, direction and inspiration, my wife has become my advocate ensuring nothing gets missed in my treatment. Bit of advice to everybody -- don't mess with her. My two adult sons have rallied by my side. My brother from Regina, Saskatchewan flew in for a week and has extended his stay to help. I have received messages of support from people I had lost touch with over the years. Every bit of support has helped. When I beat this, I will never forget just how much a simple, "Is there anything I can do?" can help a person in my predicament. Rest assured, just by asking, you have already helped. This will be my last column for the foreseeable future. I plan to return, but for now, I must concentrate all my energy on the task ahead -- saving my life and enjoying the rest of my Bonus Days. Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER / @halton_photog BUDDING RELATIONS: Turkey's Consul General Ali Riza Guney, right, and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton spoke at an event held at the Oakville Yacht Squadron clubhouse on Sunday geared towards creating a social/ economical relationship between the two municipalities. The day included a formal meet-and-greet, cultural displays of traditional Turkish art and discussions on economic development. dodged a bullet and been granted a new lease on life. I promised to make the most of this gift by treating each day afterwards as a Bonus Day. At first it worked, but as the days unfolded and the cancer scare fell into the background, I started taking life for granted. At times, life felt like a daily struggle rather than a joy. Not always, though. I did make some positive changes in the spirit of Bonus Days. I took up long distance running (5K and 10K runs), with the faint hope of some day completing the annual Hamilton Around the Bay race. After nearly 25 years of commuting from my home in Stoney Creek to work in Oakville every day, I gladly accepted a promotion one year ago as managing editor of Hamilton Community News. My wife and I made some changes together. We switched to a healthier diet; purchased new bicycles and actually rode them regularly; we turned our backyard into a garden oasis; rather than viewing a summer vacation as time off from work, we made it an adventure with a 16-day tour of Great Britain last June. I even managed to throw a surprise birthday party for her at the end of August. Life was good. Unfortunately, the melanoma resurfaced with a vengeance. According to my doctors, melanoma is a sneaky disease that will return in areas other than the skin for a small amount of patients. In my case, it returned as a malignant growth in my lower left jaw. Since the initial diagnosis, just after Labour Day, it has spread to two other areas on my face, the upper left cheek and lower right jaw. Not satisfied with the head, the disease Giving thanks for the magnificent production we call life t is nearly here. Thanksgiving weekend. A luxurious three-day weekend inherently -- or, at very least, theoretically -- devoted to the purpose of proffering thanks for the bounty bestowed upon us in this magnificent seriocomic production we call life. However, given that this proffering tends to take place in the presence of family -- oftentimes (reluctantly) extended to include the likes of Weird Uncle Willard and odd Auntie Jean -- the cornucopia of gratitude oftentimes spills over with grumbling. Grumbling by moms and dads, on the hook to find time in hectic schedules to map-out menus and grocery shop and to clean and organize the old abode for the inevitable influx of houseguests. Grumbling by the chef of the house, entrusted to toast, roast, bake, boil, barbecue, and maybe even steam a meal that appeals to all, and that caters to even the most unpardonably picky of dinner guests. "I'm a pesco-vegetarian. I'll eat fish and seafood, but not tuna, because it smells like old sweat socks. Oh, and I don't consume any poultry or meat, with the exception of hotdogs. Mmmm. You know how I Iove a good hotdog." Right. The hotdog-eating vegetarian. I And, of course, there's a ton of grumbling going on amid the offspring of the host family who feel put out and displaced by the oncoming invasion of houseguests: kids not all that thrilled with spending a few thankless nights on the musty old couch in the basement. Kids not all that thrilled with finding Uncle Willard's toupee on the kitchAndy Juniper en table and Auntie Jean's dentures in the bathroom. Naturally, in these previous paragraphs, I've been referring to the experiences and families of other people. Naturally, my family is truly civilized, nary a weird Willard or odd Jean in the bunch. And, if I ever decide to be at all serious, I'll tell you that Thanksgiving is a holiday I truly enjoy, one for which I am truly, ah, thankful. Unsure of why you should be thankful? Let me give you a few borrowed ideas. Years ago, I found myself ensconced in a preschool classroom, listening to adorable tykes answering the question posed by their instructor: What are you thankful for? Well, many were thankful for God. And many were thankful for family -- for their moms and their dads, for their grandparents and siblings. Some were very thankful for their friends. One young girl was dramatically thankful for the new dress she was wearing. A few were thankful for the Power Rangers, and other popular TV shows of the time. Some were thankful for their pets and their toys and all the good stuff they had waiting for them back at home. The instructor finally came to a boy who had not yet had a chance to answer. "And Tommy," she said, "What are you thankful for?" The earnest young man thought for a moment, then declared: "Apples!" Yeah, he was thankful for apples. Hey, I'm with Tommy. Every Thanksgiving, I get sentimentally thankful for apples; that is, the apples my mom uses to bake into her awesome apple pies. I'm telling you, the aroma of those pies, the sound of playoff baseball on TV, the feeling of being surrounded by fine familial flesh -- these became the very things that each year would make me feel truly blessed and thankful for who I was and where I was. Weird Uncle Willard and odd Auntie Jean aside. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/ thesportjesters.