I wrote this piece on the fear of cancer - carcinophobia - for Huffington Post. But here's what I couldn't include in it:

When I was six I thought I was going to die.

This wasn't just a passing thought, it was an all-consuming fear and fixation that severely affected my life and my parents' lives. To the rest of the world, I looked like a happy little girl, but that just masked my monster - my master. 

​Because of this insidious anxiety, I'd throw up every single night before I went to bed. Every pain, every twinge, everything I didn't even feel - I felt was cancer.  

My Bubby - my maternal grandmother - died when I was six. Not from cancer, but I think that's what led to this horrible phobia. So, to avoid an uncertain death, I created numerous self-imposed rules. 

Just a few days ago, the world lost one of its greatest Holocaust heroes - and you've probably never even heard of him: Felix Opatowksi. Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it's only fitting that I share his memory - and introduce you to the memories he has shared to prevent another Holocaust.

Anti-Semitism has vehemently returned to Europe within living memory of the Holocaust.

Amid a sense of siege and emergency, there is talk of a mass exodus of Jewish people – Europe's oldest ethnic minority. Look at Paris. And Brussels: Four people murdered in the Jewish museum ... a synagogue ... firebombed. In London, a major supermarket forced to remove kosher food from its shelves for fear that it would incite a riot. 

These are but a few examples. But after what happened during the Holocaust, I shouldn’t have any examples. 
​
​So let's use Felix's book - and his resiliency and perseverance - as an example to set moving forward.

​You see, I wanted to be on radio. There were no on-air openings for a kid with zero experience, so I decided to create one: "Danger Girl" - a quirky, on-air stunt character.

UPDATE: I've received many enquiries asking when this story will be posted ... I will share it with you - exclusively -  right here right now: Find Your Why: A Life-Changing Chat With Navy SEAL Vet Sean Haggerty of History Channel's 'The Selection'

I just had a conversation with a man who has risked his life to save lives as a Navy SEAL sniper. And that's just part of the incredible challenges he's endured - and overcome. If you need the secrets to success, don't read my upcoming feature on Sean Haggerty. (And don't read anything that talks about the "secrets to success," because there are no "secrets" to it.) If you need to gain clarity, perspective, motivation and direction in your life ... You won't want to miss it. Also, don't miss my new favourite TV show The Selection: Special Operations Experiment. It will be your new favourite TV show too. It's kinda like a self-help book that you don't have to read. 

If you gave someone fighting cancer $1 million, could that make it go away? What about $10 million? Maybe $100 million? David Bowie had a net worth of $230 million. And his fight against cancer still ended tragically.

And if you gave someone dealing with mental illness $100 million - or any amount of money - could that make it go away? Unfortunately, some of the most qualified people to answer that question have already taken their own lives.

What do you think our Winnipeg Police do? Wrong.

Recently, I was invited on a ride along with the police and I witnessed what you don't get to see them do: Help people who don't want to be helped. 

So how do you help people when they don't want your help? And why would someone in need, or even in danger, not want your help? 

Before I tell you about three key moments you need to know about from that night, I need to tell you about a real life moment that may hold the key to understanding these questions. 

I remember the day the doctor told my father he had six months to live ... "if that." Cancer. Nothing could be done. That night he wrote my mom a goodbye letter. It was like my dad already died that very day. And it was like my family died too.

So tonight I will share two of my biggest failures with you that have recently - significantly - impacted my life, even though each are from two entirely different points in it: one from when I was eight years old, the other from just the other week when I was shblszcshljeja years old ... ​

A big-name radio industry guy once told me I'd never be hired as a radio talk show host. "Try something else." A few days later, I applied for this job at CJOB. And just like that, I gave up a good life I had worked so hard to establish in Toronto, to return to Winnipeg. Even though I had no idea what I was doing. You see, I'm afraid of everything, but I'm not afraid to do anything.

I was a nationally syndicated writer. I had also done radio and TV before. But I had never been a talk show host. And without any training, I was given Charles Adler's old timeslot. No experience. No pressure. Right? Wrong. It's the first day of my show, September 3rd, 2013. 1:04pm. The red light on the mic turns on. And the first words out of my mouth: "Hi. I'm Charles Adler." The rest of the show went downhill from there. I wanted to quit ...

Forgive the lack of posts lately, but I've obviously been busy naming my new radio talk show, Dahlia, on Winnipeg's 680 CJOB. It airs weekday afternoons from 1 to 3 central, and you can listen live online at CJOB.com. Now, to introduce my  r a d i o  show, I thought it would most appropriate to do it with a video. Makes sense, right? 

(P.S. Posts over here may be infrequent for now, but they're abounding on my show page.)

”When I pass a flowering zucchini plant in a garden, my heart skips a beat.” – Gwyneth Paltrow

Oh the lies people tell.

The above quote is from the constantly acting actress’ crookbook, My Father’s Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness.

The queen of the humble brag had other noteworthy delectables such as, “You just need some good ingredients and a few simple recipes, maybe a couple of jokes or a ‘topic to dissect’ at the table, the way they do at Nora Ephron’s house.”

Good thing most of you sit when you read, or there may be many injuries after tripping over the late writer’s name there – or other celebrity friend names casually littered throughout, as if Gwynnie’s referring to everyday buds we all share.