Beach Walk 729R – Bill Explains How to Be Bionic

My Dad died yesterday. A year ago I filmed this episode with him – and with no more than a minute’s notice, he told us the secrets to his long and happy life. It has not been without struggles and considerable pain, but he knows where to keep his focus, and has surely been rewarded for it. You can learn more about him at www.williampbenton.com.

My Beach Walks episodes have been few and far between these past few months as Shane and I have chosen to spend more time with my family. I think you can see why in this episode, and I haven’t even touched on the strengths my mother possesses!

You can see the original post and the very many comments here.

Hawaiian word:
Makua kāne: father

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Beach Walk 712 – Happy Birthday Dad

I hope you’ll celebrate my Dad’s 85th birthday with us today. He truly merits the medal for survivor, in so many ways. I never knew what an optimist he was the past few years. As he now deals with five (yes 5) different kinds of cancer, that optimism really plays an apparent role. Let’s give a round of applause for Bill Benton and his many contributions to the “Beach Walks philosophy.” You can also watch an interview I did with him last spring in Episode 606.

Hawaiian Word:
Hauʻoli lā hānau: Happy Birthday

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Beach Walk 673 – Sunlight and Skin Cancer

You know I like to present the other side of the coin frequently, and today this regards the blind allegiance to sunscreen and fear of the sun that has been commercially developed over the past decade. There’s ample research that sunlight also prevents skin cancer, and the increase in skin cancer actually correlates nicely with the increase in sunscreen! You can hear my watch my first treatise on this here, just keep in mind I shot and edited that myself, and it’s a little long. The info is still good though! I hope you hop over – there are a lot of good links in that post!

For the locals; I shot this at the boat ramp. Hard to understand how we have lost so much sandy beach front in only 2.5 years.

Hawaiian word:
Lā: sun
Mālamalama a ka lā: sunlight

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Beach Walk 606 – Bill Explains How to Be Bionic

I went to the beach today for a swim here in Florida, where I am assisting my parents – my Dad had another cancer surgery earlier this week. (His medical history reads like a text book – he’s had it all.)

But no swimmers were allowed, due to several shark sightings. So I enlisted my dad Bill to share his secrets for living with cancer, and many more physical challenges, over the past 15 years. At 84, he has a very relevant message I think. I hope you’ll leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Hawaiian word:
Makua kāne: father

UPDATE: My father died on February 19, 2009. Two weeks beforehand, he wanted to have a party and invite all his friends. We held a very informal gathering, and showing this episode on “the big screen” on his living room wall – so all his friends could see it. It was one of the crowning achievements of this web series, IMO.

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Beach Walk 576 – Passion and Process with Carol Lin

Remember Carol? She was on Beach Walk 393 last year when we met at the BlogHer conference in New York.

A former CNN anchor, she is building a social network for cancer survivors and their families and care givers. She shares with us what this process has been like. Plus, one side benefit to the connections she has made as a result is revealed at the end of the episode! (Hint: Mike Dowling)

Hawaiian Word:
kaunu: passion

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