Over the past few days I have heard a lot of stories. Some were about cancer, how someone was diagnosed on a child's second birthday or the treatment odyssey that was taken and the balancing act of how to fit your treatment around your trumpet schedule. But mostly I heard stories about life and about resilience.

How to take the diagnosis and continue with your life. How to take the news that your mother was sick and find an organization to help and inspire you. How to find the strength after losing your dad, who was always your biggest supporter at your endurance events, and run (or hike!) in his honor.

There are plenty of "regular" stories as well. Vacations, birthdays, mundane tasks at work, dates that went horribly wrong after eating the wrong food (you know who you are).

When I first heard Kathy Giusti speak in 2015 at the Precision Medicine Conference in Boston, I had never heard of multiple myeloma. I thought she was an incredible person with a larger than life story, and she is, but so are the people I have met on this trip. Their stories may not capture the headlines (except for you, Jean!), but the inspiration they have given me I will never forget.