This essay is in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This month - plus all other 11 months of the year - I'm reflecting on an experience that has rattled me and turned me inside out and back again. I'm also remembering, missing and mourning all the dear friends I've lost (especially my two best friends, Wendy and Shelley). And lastly, I'm holding each and every women who is fighting breast … [Read more...] about On Being a Survivor
Breast Cancer
On Being a Survivor
Knowing What to Say to a Friend With Cancer
Even today, 26 years after experiencing what it feels like to be 'that' person, it's can be hard for me to figure out what to say when someone else gets diagnosed with cancer. I know that when I was going through it, there were so many - too many - people around me who let me down. It was only once I recovered from the throes of illness - getting through the shock of the diagnosis, the … [Read more...] about Knowing What to Say to a Friend With Cancer
When Nothing is Sure…Everything is Possible
Yesterday, I eavesdropped on Dame Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. “How many new lives can we have?” asked Ms. Dench. She answered her own question with the best five words I’ve heard in a long time: “As many as we’d like.” Lest you think I hang out in such royal company, I don’t. That question comes from the movie, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Have you seen it yet? I haven’t – my efforts … [Read more...] about When Nothing is Sure…Everything is Possible