There are times, when you meet someone, that you can see light behind their eyes.  When you just know they are here, doing good things, loving life, and sharing that love with those around them.

This was my impression of Alicia Neubauer, when I met her this past spring.  Later, I found out she had breast cancer, and not that any kind is good, but she had the bad kind: the kind that had spread, the kind that killed a woman I considered a close friend to me when I was a teenager.

But when you look at Alicia, she is not defined by her illness.  She is defined by her love for her family, for her community, and for those lucky enough to have served on a board, or simply crossed paths with her for a moment.

The Chronically Well Podcast began in attempt to prove to my listeners that you can be sick and still live well.  If Alicia isn’t a shining example of this, I don’t know who is.

Listen in to hear her story: about her life, her diagnosis, her role in starting a Woman’s March in Rockford, IL, her partnership in a successful local skateboard shop, and her passion for the small businesses and community in the town she calls home.

If you have cancer, or are simply a human, breathing air, you must listen to this interview.  Alicia’s gratitude for each day – her relishing of every moment, is something we should all be exploring with our own precious lives.  We only get one – just one.  If we could all live it with the same enthusiasm and grace as Alicia does, I think we could take this planet in a new, brilliant direction.

You can contact Alicia here: Facebook
Check out her skateboard shop with husband, Eric, here: Groundfloor Skateboards
Want to check out Alicia’s favorite event?  Then find out the info for Stroll on State here
And for the businesses Alicia referenced in Rockford, check them each out here:
Lucette – Holistic Salon | Boutique
Rockford Art Deli
Culture Shock
Urban Farm Girl
For other small businesses you can support in Alicia’s community: Winnebago Buy Local

Donate to Metastatic Breast Cancer Research

METAvivor is dedicated to the specific fight of women and men living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. At the time of METAvivor’s founding, no organization was dedicated to funding research for the disease and no patient groups were speaking out about the dearth of stage 4 cancer research.  While more and more people have taken up the cry for more stage 4 research, METAvivor remains the sole US organization dedicated to awarding annual stage 4 breast cancer research.”