December 29, 2025
Hi Friends,
Greetings from TrueNorth! As I sit down to write my final newsletter of the year, I’m reminded of an old Jewish joke. Four yentas are having lunch at a fancy restaurant and all they do is kvetch (the Yiddish word for “complain”). One says the soup is too salty. Another complains her coffee is cold. The third mentions how uncomfortable the chair is. The fourth counters with how hard the bread is.
The waiter, who has overheard the entire conversation, walks up to the table and asks: “Is ANYTHING all right?”
Rather than behaving like those little old Jewish ladies and telling you all my woes du jour – how Keytruda is playing Whack-a-Mole with my body, or how I want to throw my CPAP machine out the window – I’ve decided instead to focus on what’s right.
So… what is good about having cancer? I’m sure many of you are thinking: “Absolutely nothing.” And while I certainly don’t recommend it (and I hope you and your loved ones never have to experience it), there have been some unexpected gifts in my life since being diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer.
But before I tell you what they are, I want to share a true story from when I was four years old. My Bubbie (my great-grandmother) had Type 2 diabetes that resulted in both of her legs being amputated. I remember visiting her in the nursing home as if it were yesterday and saying, “Well… at least you don’t have to shave your legs.”
I wasn’t saying it to be a smart-ass, and it wasn’t because I secretly hoped to become a comedian one day. I said it because, as a child, I was an eternal optimist who always looked for the good in every situation. After many traumatic life experiences, I thought that part of me had died.
Then cancer resurrected her.
One of my favorite movies of all time is Life Is Beautiful. If you haven’t seen it, please do. I still remember watching the Academy Awards when Roberto Benigni won Best Actor and jumped over the seats to accept the award. He portrayed a father who shelters his son from the horrors of a concentration camp by making a game of it.
If someone could find light in a place that dark, maybe I could try to do something similar with cancer – at least in my own imperfect way. I attempted this by performing a stand-up comedy set in Vegas about my experience with cancer. It was met with mixed reviews. Most doctors told me they really enjoyed it, and everyone who had cancer loved it… but some people thought it was too much.
Which just proves: no matter what you do in life, you can’t please everyone. So you may as well be true to yourself. As Dr. Seuss said, “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
The first audiobook I listened to after being diagnosed was Anatomy of an Illness by Norman Cousins. He famously used laughter as part of his healing – and I want to do the same.
Many of you have kindly sent me books you recommend. I need to be honest: I can’t read with my eyes anymore. If you want to send me a book, audio only, please.
Believe it or not, the very first call I made after receiving my dire diagnosis was not to my husband, and not to my doctor at TrueNorth. It was to Cary Odes, my stand-up comedy teacher. I said, “Cary, you need to start teaching again because only laughter can save me now!” So he started a class just for me.
Cary also performed a hilarious set making fun of us vegans at the Plant Powered Party. (Yes, we deserved it.) You can watch the entire conference replay – including the stand-up show with a hilarious performance by Dr. Joel Fuhrman – when the Vegan Health Bundle drops in February. Stay tuned.
So what could possibly be good about being diagnosed with cancer?
1) Permanent jury-duty freedom. The first time I saw an oncologist, my very first question was: “Will this get me out of jury duty?” Her answer: I can now be permanently excused!! (For the record: I’m all for civic duty and would happily do community service. I just don’t want to decide someone else’s fate.)
2) Permission to do what I truly love. Cancer helped me finally embrace what I love most: comedy. Even after being on The Tonight Show multiple times, I gave up performing because I wasn’t great at it and knew I couldn’t make a living at it. Looking back, I see what a mistake that was. If there’s something you love that you aren’t doing for any reason, I want to gently (and loudly) encourage you to DO IT NOW. Please don’t die with your music still in you.
3) A new relationship with social media. Because I have a business, I still need an account for now. But I no longer live there. I allow myself 30 minutes a day of intentional social media use for business, and I don’t look otherwise.
My goal for 2026 is to get off completely and remove all the apps from my phone so I can’t go on them. If your screen time is more than an hour a day: stop scrolling and start living.
4) Surprise gifts: people. Cancer also brought some very special people into my life – like reconnecting with longtime friend and colleague Dr. Matt Lederman, who is now not just a dear friend but an improv buddy.
I’d like to close with my favorite parable that my grandfather often shared with me when I was a little girl:
A little boy is in a room piled high with horse manure. Hours later, he’s still digging like his life depends on it.
His grandfather asks, “What are you doing?”
The boy looks up and says, “With this much 💩, there’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere.” 🤣
No matter how much 💩 life throws at you, always remember to keep looking for the pony. Thank you for being part of my life, my laughter, and my search for the pony this year.
Wishing you a peaceful, healthy, hope-filled New Year from Chef Bravo & us.
Love & Kale,
💜 Chef AJ