When the epic was released in 1997, everyone swooned over Jack and Rose, the movie's star-crossed lovers. After seeing it, I took away another message: Rarely will life be what you expect, but that doesn't mean you can't make the most of it.

Cancer. It teaches so much, even as it confounds and confuses. James Dean, whose young life was snatched not by cancer but a car crash, wisely advised, "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."

The constructs upon which I co-built my family are different now. We have been through upheaval in more ways than one. We have learned that upheaval is the natural course of life. It doesn't have to be "bad" or scary or resisted.

You will lose your job. You will have your heart broken. The person you admired will disappoint you. You will make mistakes that you'll regret. You will fall. And you will get up. Life's curveballs are inevitable, therefore position yourself so that the "getting up" part is not so crippling.