Happy Labor Day

Labor Day was built to honor work. Not just paychecks or job titles, but the effort and sacrifice that hold this country together.

I think about the oncology nurses working double shifts. The patient advocates spending nights writing policy briefs no one reads. The caregivers balancing jobs, hospital visits, and household budgets. The patients like me who have spent decades fighting for dignity while also fighting a system that should make survival easier, not harder.

Work takes many forms. Some of it gets applause, some of it gets ignored, and some of it happens in silence. But every bit of it matters.

My story as a (soon-to-be) 30-year cancer survivor has been defined by that kind of work. I learned early that surviving cancer is only half the battle and that, while the disease may leave your body, it never leaves your life.

That other half is speaking up, organizing, and refusing to accept a system where people die not from disease but from bills, denials, and bureaucracy. That work does not stop. That is our labor.

So, on this Labor Day, I’m deeply grateful for the invisible heroes from all walks of life who keep us alive, centered, driven, and safeguarded. And for the ones pushing every day to fix what should never have been broken, I salute you.

America celebrates labor, but America must also protect it.