Kimberly Kalil Creative

My husband and I ended the year with a quick trip to London. I had my nose covered in bandages and black eyes thanks to Mohs surgery to remove cancer on my nose. I looked (and still look) busted up. It was bad enough that when we left Arizona a TSA agent pulled me aside and asked me repeatedly “Are you okay?”

When I booked the trip, I didn’t know I had skin cancer. When I booked the trip I didn’t know that I’d have a large chunk of the tip of my nose removed eight days before we left. When I booked the trip I had no idea I would have to travel while looking like I had the s**t beaten out of me. But I went anyway. And that is one of the biggest lessons I learned in 2025. Even I your feeling that uncomfortable or awkward, do it anyway. If you’re scared, do it anyway.

This year I was scared to get a colonoscopy, but my dear friend was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer and urged me to get the procedure. So I did it anyway. It sucked. The whole process sucked.m. But now I know I don’t have colon cancer.

When I went to get the spot on my nose checked out with my dermatologist I was afraid I’d look silly because it was obviously nothing. But I did it anyway. And I’m so grateful I did. They found and treated the cancer before it went deeper into my nose and possibly the bone, which could have made for seriously disfiguring treatment.

Anyway, I’m so grateful I didn’t let my vanity and embarrassment drive me to cancel the trip. It was magical. And I feel so privileged to be able to take trips like this and spend special with Mike ().

As you go into 2026, please remember to just do it. Do the thing. Don’t wait. This is all there is. There is no going back. Just live. And enjoy it all.