Breast awareness month is the perfect time to remember that women with breast cancer need more than research and pink ribbons. They need people. In a time of crisis, it helps to reach out to others, especially to someone who has been there. Which is partly why support groups exist. I had no support group during cancer. But I […]
Breast Friends: Part 1
Other than teenage boys or nursing babies, nothing makes you more aware of your breasts than getting cancer in one of them. When that happened, it made me aware of many other things—such as learning who my friends were. And making new ones. I need friends. For many reasons. Decisions require friendly feedback. Stories appreciate […]
Making the List
Like Jews all over the world, I haven’t eaten since sunset last night. No food. No drink. Not even water. This is part of the ritual Jews observe every year to commemorate Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. I’m not very observant ; but I fast every Yom Kippur because that is part of who […]
Shining Under the Spotlight
I just watched the entire four-and-a-half hours of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. Every moment of the pyrotechnical pageantry, the artistry, the staggering spectacle of it all. I watched every single country in the world marching into the stadium; the athletes of all colors, shapes and sizes wearing their proud smiles and their […]
BURNING BRAS WITH KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
I always thought she was gorgeous. That face. That skin. That elegant willowy body. And talented. Period English films. Pirate action movies. A teenage soccer movie. What couldn’t that girl do? In addition to all that, Keira Knightley, age 23, now becomes my inspiration. For standing up to the Hollywood system and the popular culture […]
Strategic Scanning
Alert readers of this blog might have noticed the phrase “PET scan” slipped into my last post. A casual mention of a not-so-casual subject. For a normal person, even a routine test is stressful–like a mammogram or a colonoscopy. For a cancer survivor, the sophisticated scans exponentially ramp up the anxiety level. Most people view […]
