WHAT IS ICANCERVIVE

This is a space where presence matters more than perfection, and where friendship outlasts every question we couldn’t answer.

ICANCERVIVE was born from a nearly three‑decade friendship with my teacher, Donna “Sunshine” Ramos, a woman whose spirit shaped me long before cancer entered the picture. What started in a classroom, in a homeroom filled with laughter and paint‑stained hands, became a journey of witnessing something deeper: how someone continues to show up even when life asks something huge of them. I didn’t start ICANCERVIVE to catalogue illness. I started it because the way Sunshine lived taught me so much about courage, connection, creativity, and presence. These are the lessons that stayed with me even after she was gone. Her life wasn’t defined by diagnosis; it was defined by the way she leaned into life, with humor, with stubborn curiosity, and with a generosity that made even ordinary moments feel rich. This project — the podcast, the stories, the reflections — exists to honor that legacy in a way that’s thoughtful, human, and reflective. Here, we explore what it means to: Be present when life is uncertain Find humor in the everyday Lean into creativity and connection Carry someone’s spirit forward without owning their story Every piece of content here is rooted in my own experience, what I witnessed, and what those moments taught me, not in medical detail or assumptions about her inner life. I talk about what I saw, what I felt, and what stayed with me long after the conversation ended. Some days, ICANCERVIVE feels like a podcast. Some days, it feels like a quiet place to sit with a memory. And some days, it feels like a question to return to: How do we live well — together — even when we don’t have the answers? If you’ve ever had a teacher who changed you, or a friend who showed up in ways you didn’t expect, you’re in the right place.