WHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGLETS?


In January 2015, following a routine check by my vigilant GP, I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

As a Brit living in Sydney, Australia since 2008, I realised over the following days just how many of my friends and family were scattered across the globe and different timezones.

The Fellowship of the Ringlets was originally just a tremendous pun and the title of a closed Facebook group I created to keep those distant friends and family in the loop and worry-free.

But over 12 months, my little group somehow grew from 80 to 800+ and became a veritable band of brothers, a support team like no other and a true Fellowship in every sense of the word.

Their love, laughter and rallying cries have been the greatest tonic a little ringlet'd cancer-face like me could have wished for.

The following letters, musings, incoherent ramblings and occasional bouts of bad language are for them all.

Welcome to the Fellowship of the Ringlets.

VC x

Thursday, 26 March 2015

* ONE-ARMED BOXING IN BONDI

Dear Fellowship,

This is Rich. Rich used to play village cricket with my dad and brother when he was younger. Now he's moved to Sydney and is a personal trainer in beautiful Bondi. 

Rich doesn't know me that well but contacted me last week anyway to see if I fancied a free weekly training session with him to keep me moving. Don't know where he got the completely accurate idea that I'd become a human sloth? I challenged him to come up with a training plan for a reluctant, one-armed bandit and in response he quite rightly pointed out I still had 3 working limbs and that we could easily work around Limpy. Damn.
So today I went to Bondi and started boxing again for the first time in months with one arm in a sling, one in a glove and it was a proper comedy sight to behold. But it was ace. Thanks so much Rich and sorry for roundhouse-kicking you in an overly aggressive way.
One important thing I have learnt over the last 11 weeks and continue to witness every day in some shape or form is how bloody lovely and generous people are, regardless of how well they know me or how long I've known them. As my friend Matt succinctly put it last night "People are just really good, aren't they? It's just good to see." And he's absolutely right.
And even though I know it sounds a bit mad to be grateful in any way to the dark overlord that is cancer, today I'm grateful that it's reminded me how lucky I am to have those good people in my life. Bonkers. I'm off for a juice and a lie-down...
Love from Bondi Beach,
VC x

P.s the Bouff is still refusing to bugger off. It's getting awkward...


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