My Why: I was 26 years old when my girlfriend — a first-year medical student — suggested I see a doctor. I had half-jokingly shared with her that it smelled like iron when I pooped. “Medical Student Syndrome” is well-documented, and I thought I was in for four years of overreactions to every symptom she’d be learning about. She’s tenacious, so I went. I ended up having a colonoscopy where several two-centimeter precancerous polyps were removed. I’ve made lifestyle changes, have a Gastroenterology loyalty card, and have been clean since. I’ve lived my life humbly aware of how lucky I am — and that I’m on bonus time. Fast-forward twenty years, and a dear friend of mine began having cardiac and anxiety issues. He went through many tests with no clear answers. Then, after a year or so, he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which took his life in his early 40s — leaving behind an amazing wife and three small children. Devastating. So, everyone I know gets a colon screening lecture from me. Hopefully, I can save a life like my girlfriend did for me. Oh — about that girlfriend. I asked her to marry me. She said yes. And she’s still tenacious. To your full life, Joe & Ericka