hoong yee and hoong wei

We ran the Tufts 10K on Columbus Day, my sister Hoong Wei and I.  What that really means is that we ran vigorously in front of every photographer at the beginning and at the end of the race and everywhere there was a downhill.  Since breathing is difficult for Hoong Wei, we decided to walk  the race and try to get in under 2 hours which we did.  We won!

Lung cancer is a bitch.

For all of the years when young children and messy lives prevented us from finishing a sentence, this run was the one moment in time we could have a conversation, just the two of us.  The run is still ours, but now with the uninvited and demanding presence of cancer.

Hoong Wei is a gamechanger.  If not for her sheer will and determination to beat her lung cancer, she would have been long gone according to her doctors.  Yesterday afternoon, she and Howie took us sailing.  She taught Sky how to steer the boat while yelling at the rest of us to lean and duck so we wouldn’ t get smacked in the head by the mast.

hoong wei and sky

“Gowjees port! “

“What side is that?  Oh my God, we’re tipping!”

“Coming about!”

“Now what?  Where should we gowjees go?”

Gowjees, for those of you who don’t know what the heck I am talking about, are potstickers.  We had about a thousand or so of all kinds for lunch – steamed, pan fried, microwaved, toaster ovened.  So imagine the weight shift of the boat with all of us tumbling around.

howie and hoong wei

And as if that wasn’t enough movement to digest a dynasty of gowjees, we sailed home to eat an early carbo loaded dinner and headed out to Hoong Wei’s ice hockey game.  Yes, she plays defense for Twister Sistahs!  The high point for me was when she got put in the penalty box for some overly aggressive action.

hoong wei in the penalty box

Why a gamechanger?  She thinks this way:  I can fool cancer by making it think it doesn’t belong here while I am sailing, playing ice hockey and running for photo ops in a 10K.  I have fooled it for 3 years – what an idiot!  I will continue to do so by living the fullest cancer free, happy and healthy life every day.

My sister, the gamechanger.  Me, I am a gowjee eater and her biggest fan.