Today was mostly a sea day, as we wouldn’t arrive in Victoria BC until 8:30pm. A late night last night plus having to move our clocks up an hour to account for the time zone change meant that I slept really late (for me) and woke up at 7am. I had an 8am rehearsal! Up to the buffet for some emergency coffee and an English muffin, did the crossword and headed down to rehearsal.

That went pretty well - then at lunch, we discovered that it was cake day, so hell yeah.

Annie sent me a pic that she took of me yesterday when I was helping move equipment after Bells of the Cascades did their concert. These are bigger bells than we have in our local group and YES they’re freaking heavy.

Before long, it was time for our concert. We weren’t on the main stage (like we all thought we would be) but instead we played in the rehearsal room where we’ve been practicing. To say that it was crowded is an understatement, with probably 50 or more people outside in the hallway. I saved Rob a seat inside the room, which made it easier for him to see and hear what we were doing.

I think the concert went really well, especially since none of us had even seen the music before the cruise.

Honestly, not much happened after that, other than I finished writing my song. I have a mad respect now for people who write rap lyrics, because it’s seriously hard. And me being me, I chose a beat for the second half of the song that runs at a blistering pace and gets faster from there. Then I wrote lyrics that matched that speed. I’ll have it memorized at some point, but now I’m happy enough just to be able to spit it out.

There will be a video at some point when I’m back home with my desktop computer and all of my music software. So for now, you’ll have to be content with the lyrics.

For those who don’t know the story already, I hit a really low spot in my life when I got my second cancer diagnosis and what finally pulled me out of it was a couple of South London pensioners who decided at the age of 70+ that it might be fun to be rap stars. Oh, and one of them managed to beat cancer while they were doing it. So here goes….

I had it pretty good, was enjoying my life
It was heavy on the feel-good and light on the strife
I had a decent job and a lot of good friends
And even though I wasn’t rich, I was making the ends meet.

I met a nice man on a dating site
He was older than me, but that’s just my type
I was head over heels because this feeling was real
And even though he lived in Canada, I knew it was right.

It didn’t matter that there was a nation border between us
We were falling in love, ask anyone who’d seen us
We were happy together. We were wondering whether
We should talk about maybe moving in together.

So I gathered my nerve and found a song to use
And I re-wrote the lyrics, made a whole new tune
And I sang my proposal and we set a wedding date
Everything was really perfect, we just had to wait
Till I could wrap up my job and get my things all packed
And I knew that if I did this, there was no going back
But I had no second thoughts, we were solid in our love and then

“sorry, we found cancer”

What the hell was I supposed to do with this?
I was starting a new life, everything should be bliss
I don’t believe that people suffer ‘cause they’ve pissed off god
But I can tell you now that life can go from great to shit.

But then I made a firm decision that I wouldn’t let this demon
Get me down and I decided that to mope is just derision
So I got my shit together and I said that I would never
Let the cancer win by showing it that things were any different

And it worked. For awhile at least.
I kept on living my life in spite of the beast.
I found a handbell group and brought the music back into my life
Which has always had it’s own soundtrack

And I was happy again. I expected to win this battle that I didn’t even want to be in
But then I got another cancer and I asked the doc to answer, ‘tell me, what are my odds?’

He said, ‘thirty percent.’

I don’t know how anyone could understand
The way that hearing those words forever changes a man
But lemme tell you right now that I didn’t see how my life was
Going to amount to anything worthwhile

But I told myself that if I kept a positive mind
That I could beat the odds and everything would be just fine
But in the gaps between the music, I could hear the clock ticking on the time bomb…

I tried to believe that I was making it
I cried when I realized I was faking it
There’s life to be lived, I should be taking it
But the darkness… there’s no escaping it

It’s pretty fucked
I won’t give up
I can’t

[shift in background music]

Hope can come from crazy places
There on YouTube, brand new faces
Two old geezers, blokes from London
Dressed in three-piece suits, I’m wondering
What they’re up to, they look smooth
Hop in the booth and nod to Fumez
Fugees beat just dropped, what’s happening?
Step to the mic, they can’t be rapping!

Even though I don’t like rapping, I could tell these songs were slapping
Who are they? Where did they come from?
Why do their songs make me feel some hope that I had long abandoned?
Can’t explain, but it ain’t random.
Dug into their story: “Damn, sir… you did this and still beat cancer?”

That was the moment that I turned my life around
If these old codgers could do it then I was bound
Not to allow the depression to get me down
I took control and my attitude’s better now

This is my time.
I am in charge.
Out of my way, I’m steering this barge.

Times are still trying but there’s no denying
There’s no time for crying ‘cause I’m living large.

I can’t give enough thanks to Basil and Pete
’Cause I know that it’s them got me back on my feet
And I owe them a debt I can never repay
’Cause I feel like my life has just got a replay.

This is my time, I’ll say it again.
This life is mine.
My power’s within.
Times are still trying but there’s no denying
That cancer can fuck off, it’s not gonna win.

If you think I don’t have days where pain creeps in and doubt replays
Well, you’d be wrong but it won’t stay ‘cause I just stand and say

This is my life.
This is my time.
I’m taking charge.
This life is mine.

Every time I think that maybe I will have a downer day
I pull up Pete and Bas and let the inspiration come my way
I can’t explain how two old rappers doing up the gangster-play
Can make me happy like they do
It doesn’t matter, anyway

I got my willpower back from the dead
And I know the best medicine’s all in my head
If I keep a good attitude like the doc said
Then I know that I won’t die
I’m living instead.

Fuck cancer. I got this.

It’s been a fun cruise, I’m glad we came.

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