Joel Milne is a relatively new member of the Cornerstone family. You can always tell when he’s in the office, his smile 
and booming “Good morning, how are you?” greetings can be heard throughout the office. His genuine happiness is contagious and it’s hard for anyone here not to smile when you see him coming your way.
Getting to know the tunes he literally jovially whistles while he works and seeing his zest for life, more so than many of the 20 and 30 somethings in our office have, I was astounded in a meeting a few months ago when he shared that he had been cancer free for 1 year. “Wait. Cancer free? Cancer? Joel Milne?” My mind grappled with the idea that such a genuinely happy and joyful person could have battled cancer just a year ago and remain so positive.
“I can’t believe you’ve had cancer!” I exclaimed. “Twice!” he said with a look of triumph on his face. He had won. Not once, but twice. This additional news left me speechless. It made me look at myself and the people around me in a completely different way. How could someone who has fought for their life twice only a year ago be so positive and full of life? I walk around the office with my cup of coffee like a zombie. I muster smiles to those I can and mutter a quiet “hello”, but here is a man who brings smiles to everyone’s faces everyday and if anyone had a reason to saunter around the office like a zombie it would be him.
I’ve been intrigued and impressed by Joel since he started here at Cornerstone, but with this new information I was even more impressed. I wanted to know how you can experience such a terrifying scare and remain so positive and happy. How do you let go of resentment, pain, feeling that the world has failed you in some way? So Joel kindly agreed to answer some of my questions. I must say, his answers will show you just how he was able to fight this terrible sickness twice and win; positivity, family, faith, a sense of humor, and a strong will to fight.
