COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Musical artist and Ohio native Nightbirde appeared on CNN with Chris Cuomo to talk about her health, the holidays, what she’s working on and maintaining a positive attitude while battling cancer.
Cuomo introduced Zanesville native Jane Marczewski with one of her famous quotes, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy,” adding that she walks “the walk” when it comes to being happy in the face of adversity.
Then a clip was played of her shining moment this summer when she auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” while struggling with her cancer, earning Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer for her performance.
Since that performance, Nightbirde has kept a low profile, stepping aside from the “America’s Got Talent” competition to focus on fighting her life-threatening illness.
“Well, you know what, I wish we would get a faster miracle, but it’s happening slow, little by little day-by-day I’m getting a little better,” Nightbirde told Cuomo when asked about how she is doing. “I did get a scan result back and a bunch of stuff that was there has now disappeared and a bunch of the really big stuff has gone down in size so, we’re on the way.”
Cuomo then asked if she was comfortable enough with her struggle “to continue to dare to dream about what happens next?”
“I think life sometimes is a game of, choose your pain, so the pain of continuing or the pain of giving up. So, the pain of continuing, there’s a lot more uncertainty that way, but I think the pain of giving up is so much worse.”
The conversation also touched on Nighbirde’s holiday plans when Cuomo asked her to reflect on what Thanksgiving means to her this year.
“Every year that I get to gather around the table with people that I love, it’s such a — it’s such an honor and a gift,” she responded. “I shouldn’t, I should not be alive right now based on the usual statistics. So every year when this time comes around, it’s special for the whole family.”
Nightbirde went on to describe her attitude toward life when Cuomo pressed about her “heavy truth.”
“Well, I think every, every moment that we breathe is a miracle and a gift,” she said. “Most people don’t know what a joy it is to wake up in the morning without pain, ’cause they’ve just experienced, you know, maybe a normal life. But those like me who face death on a day-to-day basis.
“Sometimes I think we’re the luckier ones because if we get to really see the sweetness of life and the miracle is to love and be loved. And to, to dream and to have a, you know, the chance at a future. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the weight of that, or I don’t know if I’ll ever, I don’t know if it’ll ever become casual to me again, just to live.”
Near the end of the interview, Nightbride discussed her current plans when it comes to making music and what is happening in her life professionally.
“I am so proud of everything I’m writing right now,” she said. “Uhm again, pain can be a gift because it really, really drives you to deep places to, to dig for gold. Sometimes you gotta dig really, really deep for gold. And, and that’s, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’m really proud of the stuff that I’m, I’m working on. And the voice is getting there. Today I actually sang a lot and even it, even though it’s not up to 100%, I am just so happy to be singing. I could not stop smiling today.”