The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday May 27, 2006 - 3 By Wilma Blokhuis OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Paul Taylor is living his dream. He's alive with hope and love, bursting with enthusiasm and at times filled with emotion. Life took on a whole new meaning for the 56-year-old retired teacher after surviving cancer. "I have always dreamed of owning an island," said Taylor, who overcame prostate cancer eight years ago. "After cancer, you tend to change the priorities in your life," he mused, noting the life-changing experience with cancer at age 48 prompted him to pursue that dream of owning an island. "Some dreams can be expensive," he continued. "We sold our Oakville home and consolidated our finances," he said. Taylor retired two years ago. His wife Noreen they will celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary in July continues to work as a teacher-librarian in Oakville. The Taylors bought their tree-covered 20-acre dream island in eastern Ontario five years ago. "Yes, dreams do come true...it does happen. You just have to put your mind to it. "We built a gorgeous house," said Taylor, proudly showing its construction progress in a scrapbook that appears to be professionally designed. "We built our 1,800 square foot summer home three years ago, but since we decided to have it winterized, it's our dream home. "I'm living the good life," he said. Since retirement, Taylor has found the change in lifestyle "too abrupt" and does some contract teaching up to 95 days a year. "I miss teaching...I miss the contact with the students." However, he's found a new outlet for his desire to teach and encourage others. "As my teaching career in the schools is at the end, my teaching career with the Canadian Cancer Society is on the rise," said Taylor. He has trained to be a volunteer facilitator to lead a support group for cancer survivors at the Oakville Unit office. Taylor got involved with Relay for Life. More than 190 teams are expected to participate this June 2 and 3. The fifth annual Relay for Life is expected to raise $700,000. For the first three years of his participation, Taylor was captain of Team Defiant from Glen Abbey United Church. Today he'll tell you he's the captain of Team Survivor. "I had an awesome team last year...205 cancer survivors registered for the Survivors Victory Lap. As the Survivor chair I'm the captain of that team. "My goal this year is to have 250 survivors on my team. So far, over 120 have pre-registered and I'll be phoning all of them. I expect a whole bunch of survivors to show up on the day of the event. We'll have a meal, T-shirts and refreshments for them. Celebrating life BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER HE'S THE SURVIVOR CHAIR: Paul Taylor, a retired Oakville teacher, is the Survivor Chair for this year's Relay for Life on June 2. He will give the keynote address at the Luminary ceremony. "I'm asking all survivors to come out and celebrate life and to stay for the Luminary Ceremony. "Last year we had two teams of survivors, a team of breast cancer survivors and another team of prostate cancer survivors," he said. This year's Relay, at Appleby College, starts with the Survivors Victory Lap on June 2 at 7 p.m. The event ends 12 hours later on June 3 at 7 a.m. Taylor, who volunteered to be the Survivor chair last year, will be keynote speaker at the Luminary Ceremony on Friday at 10 p.m. He'll speak about hope. "To me, hope is spelled l-o-v-e," he said. "Hope is something you give to those around you." When Taylor accepted the challenge as Survivor chair, one of his first decisions was to invite `significant others,' wives, close friends, relatives, family caregivers...people who played an important role in the lives of survivors, to walk beside the survivors during the Survivors Victory Lap. "I decided that the person who has been there for you is welcome to walk with you as a survivor," said Taylor. His eyes fill with tears just thinking of the emotion he shared with his wife during last year's Survivors Victory Lap. "Noreen has been with me throughout my cancer treatment and it was more meaningful to both of us that she could walk with me. This was very emotional. "We want the survivors to bring their special someone with them on the walk." The Taylors sold the Oakville home and downsized to a Burlington townhouse last July after living and working in Oakville for 30 years. He taught at numerous local schools...W. H. Morden, Sunningdale, E. J. James, Pilgrim Wood for 13 years and Montclair. During his six years at Sunningdale, he participated in a one-year teacher exchange in Australia in 1984. "That was one of the most enriching years of our lives," said Taylor. Prior to moving to Australia, Taylor ran the Town of Oakville's Terry Fox Run in 1982 and 1983, and admits to having been bitten by the `cancer bug' to raise funds towards finding a cure. "I didn't expect to benefit from this research myself." Taylor admits to being "hooked line and sinker" with the Canadian Cancer Society as a volunteer "ever since Terry Fox came into my life. "On the day Terry was in Oakville I was on my way to a ball game I was playing competitive baseball and his van passed me on the way to Sheridan College for an afternoon rally. I'll never forgive myself for that regret (of not turning around and going to Sheridan) but at the time, the game was more important. If I could live my life over again..." After returning from Australia, Taylor canvassed for the Canadian Cancer Society and organized Terry Fox Runs at schools. Taylor's family has also been touched by cancer. His mother died in 1986 of breast cancer that had developed into bone and skin cancer and his father of prostate cancer during the early 1990s. Diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 48, Taylor found himself to be among the one per cent of men diagnosed before their 50th birthday. "I feel incredibly blessed and I'm totally thankful to my doctors, John Denby who urged me to get a PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) test although I showed no symptoms, and Richard Casey, my urologist and oncologist. They were both tremendous." Taylor had his prostate surgically removed in a procedure known as a radical prostatectomy. "My goal was to be cancer free. The doctors got it all or almost all I had no chemo and no radiation." He was diagnosed on Oct. 6, 1998, and has his surgery on Nov. 20 that same year. All of his follow-up check-ups and blood work have been clear of cancer. The Taylors have one son, Mark, 26, now in his seventh year of obtaining his Masters degree in landscape architecture at the University of Guelph. He and his fiancé Melanie will be first time participants in this year's Relay for Life, said Taylor with considerable pride. For more information about the Relay for Life, see www.cancer.ca or call the society's Oakville office at 905-845-5231. · Wood & Vinyl Shutters, Supplied & Installed · High Quality at Affordable Prices · Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed · Serving Oakville with Shop at Home Service Authorized Vinylbilt Dealer www.shuttersetc.ca Shop at Home Service FREE