What's My Favorite Article?

Someone recently asked me what, of all the things I've written, is my favorite.

To a writer, that's akin to asking a mother which of her children she loves the most. We love them all, equally!

Yet we writers do have favorites—and, unlike mothers, we can select them without hurting feelings (most of the time).

Mine is 13 years old. I had the luxury of assigning it to myself, because I was the editor of my alma mater's magazine. The article is about Maura Guthrie, a 1987 and 1992 graduate of then-Elon College (now University). A friend of Maura's—a fellow Elon alum—shared that Maura was not only an accomplished Ironman competitor, but she was also training for triathlons while going through treatment for high-grade infiltrating ductal carcinoma. That's a technical term for "extremely aggressive breast cancer."

The story sounded like alumni magazine gold, but it also interested me personally. I was training for my first (and, to date, only) full marathon. Nearly two decades younger than Maura and struggling mightily, I couldn't fathom marathon training—much less preparing for the swimming and biking legs, too—while going through cancer treatment. I wanted to ask her how—and why.

We writers do have favorites—and, unlike mothers, we can select them without hurting feelings (most of the time).

Although her friend nominated her for profile-hood, Maura wasn't keen on the spotlight. We exchanged a couple of messages about the article, discussing where it would appear, who its audience would be, and what angle I planned to take. I explained that if the interview questions ever felt too personal, she could say so and I'd redirect. I added that I thought her story would be an inspiring one for alumni facing a cancer diagnosis of their own or of someone they loved.

She agreed to do the article.

Despite having many interviews under my belt by that point, I felt nervous about this one. The subject matter was sensitive and, at least on paper, Maura seemed like a total badass.

"There are just no studies to guide this kind of situation," Maura recalled. "At the end of the day, the answer was, 'We don't know. Go for it.' So I did."

But from the first minute, talking to Maura felt like chatting with an old friend. For each question I asked about her she asked one about me, and she even shared some advice and encouragement for my marathon training. The conversation started with the original premise of the story: Maura's cancer diagnosis and her training through treatment. But it expanded to include how her outlook on life in general gave context to that decision.

"Throughout your life, you should make assessments of yourself. Ask yourself 'Is this the best I can do? Am I happy? Instead of being in an unhappy situation for a long time, you need to make immediate adjustments," she said.

Despite facing the daunting physical and mental challenges of cancer, racing and training remained her source of happiness. So she asked her doctors if continuing would negatively affect her prognosis.

"There are just no studies to guide this kind of situation," she recalled. "At the end of the day, the answer was, 'We don't know. Go for it.' So I did."

Those twin thoughts—the importance of continually checking the pulse of your own happiness, and taking bold action whenever that happiness isn't being served—became the focus of the article, even more than the objectively impressive facts of her ordeal.

"Change your life whenever you're unhappy, and don't wait," Maura said. "Somebody could be telling you tomorrow that you have five years to live. You're going to be really sad if you didn't live it the way you wanted to live it."

This is the only article I've ever written that I've printed quotes from and stuck them to my wall. I return to Maura's words just about anytime I have an important decision to make.

So, why is this my favorite article?

I love the flow of this story, and frankly, that's not always something I can say. The quotes and background information clicked together perfectly. When I put the finishing touches on the piece, I remember feeling the same satisfaction I do when I solve a hard Sunday crossword puzzle without looking up a single answer.

And Maura was happy with how the article came out, which is always a nice thing for a writer to hear.

But this is the only article I've ever written that I've printed quotes from and stuck them to my wall. I return to Maura's words—"Change your life whenever you're unhappy, and don't wait"—just about anytime I have an important decision to make. I can't say I always take Maura's advice and choose my own happiness over all else. But thanks to her, it's always consideration.

Here's a link to the full story from the Spring 2011 issue of The Magazine of Elon.