Simone Smith is reminding the world that survival comes with perspective.

In a recent sit-down on the “Tamron Hall Show,” LL Cool J’s wife reflected on her years-long cancer journey and the way it permanently shifted how she moves through life. Smith said, “You can’t take life for granted…because life will throw you some curves,” a sentiment with weight, given everything she has endured. “I wake up every morning thankful. I thank God for waking me up in my right mind,” Smith said.

Smith was diagnosed with stage III chondrosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in 2004. “I was just like, ‘Ain't nobody going to raise these kids with [LL] but me. So you know you wake up and you and you fight, and I trusted God, and I knew that God had me,” Smith added. “My grandmother was still alive at the time, and I was on her 4 a.m. prayer call every single morning while I was going through it.”

Smith shared that the illness inspired her jewelry brand, Simone I. Smith Jewelry, and that she has been cancer-free ever since. It took Smith two and a half years to learn how to walk again, which is when she created her jewelry brand’s first piece: a lollipop pendant based on a tattoo she had that was altered during her surgery.

“I named it a sweet touch of hope. Because the candy represents how sweet life is, the bite represents what cancer does to the person, and then I have my logo that comes out of the bite that just shows my journey from being diagnosed with cancer and living cancer-free,” Smith shared. She has also used her platform to support cancer awareness efforts over the years, turning a deeply personal battle into a source of purpose and advocacy. 

Her story is also one of steady love. Smith and LL Cool J first met as teenagers in Queens in 1987, dated for eight years, and married in 1995. The couple share, four children and three grandchildren, and in recent interviews, they have continued to speak openly about the work, faith, and mutual respect that have helped their marriage last more than three decades. 

For Smith, the lesson has been about living differently after that life-changing diagnosis, with more gratitude, more intention, and a deeper appreciation for the people and moments that matter most. That kind of testimony always hits different — especially coming from a woman who has turned pain into something greater than herself.