“I met my wife Emma on the return from her job in Timor Leste where she was volunteering. She made an impression and I knew I’d see her again. There was no doubt that when Emma would return to Brisbane permanently that we would be together. It was very much ‘love at first sight’ – the ultimate cliché.
Shortly after Emma’s return to Brisbane, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Melanoma at the age of 22. A few short months later, Stage 4, she received a terminal prognosis. There was a whole lot that happened in this time, lots of doctor’s appointments for Emma, lots of dates for us, and a lot of falling in love.
Emma started a blog named ‘Dear Melanoma’. She lit up the internet and brought thousands together, documenting her life with a stage 4 melanoma diagnosis. Advancements in cancer research gave Emma more treatment options and time to advocate sun safety and fundraise for cancer research.
Living with a terminal diagnosis, Emma struggled with the notion of a bucket list. It was an exciting and depressing idea. Instead, Emma’s answer to this conundrum was to put together a list of things that brought joy to her day. Some of the list includes:
• To have beautiful flowers at home
• To always order pavlova on the menu
• Always have a bottle of Champagne in the fridge
• Drink English Breakfast tea out of her favourite china teacup and saucer
• Always have beautiful nails
• Enjoy our new puppy, Mr Ralph
Not being able to plan for the future, we felt safe plodding along in the present. We tried living ‘life in the moment’, and ‘living like any day could be our last’. However it was hard work, and just too exhausting. We begun to loan for a little bit of a routine.
Emma chose to live on the wild side and planned that little bit further ahead. In that time, we married, we travelled overseas several times. We Purchased our home, she started a business and raised over $100,000 for Melanoma Institute Australia.
Emma always wrote on her blog or when she went to speaking engagements that her cancer story is as much a love story as it is a heartbreaking one. I agree. There is no regret in my life with Emma, nor will there ever be.
We are so lucky to have found each other."
You can read Emma’s blog here.
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Image: Supplied by Serge Simic