Collection: Bee Optimistic

We can’t control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we react to it.

My dad brought that old cliché to life for our family in a most unusual way, and we’ll never be the same.

During an emergency family meeting, my father told us that he had cancer while dressed as a...bee. (My mom was wearing a bee keeper costume.) The pair had worn the costumes at a Halloween party the night before, and decided to wear them again to “help take the sting out of the news.”

True story.

I made this art for my dad shortly thereafter. He asked me to make it into a pin that he could wear every day. I did, and he does. Now, my cancer-free father gives them to people all the time, people who’ve been impacted by cancer. It’s like he’s a volunteer at a marathon handing out water to the the runners.

Because he is.

Fighting cancer is a hard race. Faith and hope is the water you need to keep going. When my dad hands out the Bee pins, he’s handing out hope.

And a reminder that we all need to hear.