Lacuna Loft is excited to continue introducing some guest bloggers! These great folks represent a variety of perspectives on the myriad of topics covered here at Lacuna Loft. Before everyone starts really getting into the nitty-gritty of all they have to say, we wanted to introduce them a bit. Without further ado, here is Kevin!
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I mess with words for a living. The decision to do so was inspired by catching a solidly sufficient case of the cancer in the fall of 2011. I was 25 years old, about to make the 26th notch on my growth wall, when I noticed a funky mole on my leg and found myself chained in for a nightmarish ride shortly thereafter. In the days and years before that, I was living the young rebel life in NYC, masquerading as a corporate exec, campaigning for human rights, folding clothes, and scrambling for a tiny piece of calm in a whirlwind of chaos. Even before that, I sprouted from the rich, coal-encrusted soil of Central Pennsylvania, where legend has it that I took my first tentative steps into young adulthood at the Pennsylvania State University.
During treatment, I wrote two books, both of which are available on Amazon. One is an account of my run-in with cancer as a young adult, complete with the wisdom and life experience that only a terminal diagnosis can provide, along with anecdotes unique to walking the bridge between life and death. You can find the book here. Now I’m a freelance writer and author, with a finished novel ready to pitch. I’m a regular contributor to various publications such as The Huffington Post, and I’ve been featured by numerous organizations and have met several wonderful people along my post-cancer journey.
But before cancer, I was a regular human person too, just like everyone else. A better human person in some ways, and worse in others. My cancer diagnosis is something that happened to me, and I would be lying if I said that it didn’t, at least in some part, define me. It brought me painfully in touch with the my genuine self. Like most other young adult survivors, though, I still struggle off and on to rediscover the fundamental meaning of my life. Occasionally I remember that there are only a few vitally important things in life, and I go off and tend to them.
