Janet’s voice cracks for the first time as she recounts a touching gift from her son. “When he was younger, just little-little, I read him this book by Robert Munsch, Love You Forever,” she says. At the end of the book the little boy grows up and he takes care of his mother. “He bought that book for me for Mother’s Day.” She searches for the right words to express how meaningful a gesture it was but then simply adds, with emotion heavy in her voice, “It was something so small but it meant so much.”
These days Janet’s health is much improved, and she has resumed the active life she enjoyed before her diagnosis. “She’s running around with my sisters, on the go,” says Kalan, pleased. Likewise, his career is once again in full swing. His latest album, Wake Up Living, was released in August, and another concert tour is on deck.
Musically, the tone of the new CD reflects some of Kalan’s emotions before, during and after this difficult period, with a number of songs subtly capturing his moods at the time they were written. As a way of spreading awareness about his mother’s disease, Kalan has also begun working with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure.
"You learn to value your family more"
Though their lives have returned to a new normal, both Kalan and Janet say that, despite the pain and suffering that accompanied her illness, they’re better for having survived it together. They have a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in life. “You learn to value your family more, your friendships more, your life more, the little things,” says Janet. “They just became so much more meaningful.” Kalan agrees, admitting that this experience, however harrowing, grounded him and made him re-evaluate his priorities.
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