Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Invincible

It's October: Breast Cancer Awareness month.


Before I was diagnosed I never thought it could happen to me. My grandmother had it. She was old! She had gray hair (well, frosted hair really). She had really soft wrinkly skin that smelled of lavender. Sometimes cucumber.

So when I would see pink ribbons, I would think of Mema. My cute little Italian grandma. She never really talked about her experience. Or how scared she was. She was just a bull, a fighter.

Then finally, breast cancer took her away from all of us. Took away her wit, her funny (yet sometimes dirty) jokes, her love for Japanese soap operas and her adoration for her family.

It was then that it all became so real. People get plucked right out of the world because their time is up. And they just leave it all behind. I had been to wakes and funerals before, but Mema wasn't just any ordinary grandma. She was my friend. I told her about school, about my boyfriends, my job, and my friends. She even came to my rugby games in college! She shared so much with me in my life. And then she was gone.

I thought about her experience with breast cancer. That she found something. Something she never expected. So one day in the shower I poked around and I too found something. At 26 years old. But never thought it could happen to me. Because I thought breast cancer only happens to grandma's.

Little did I know that I was suffering from an aggressive type of breast cancer that not only caused me to have a double mastectomy and extensive treatment, but it also spread to my lymph nodes. It  had a life of its own.

Now looking back and living life post-cancer, I realize that anything can happen to anyone. My friend Drew fell from a fire escape. He fell right out of the earth. Why? It's just not fair.

So I've learned that life is so precious. And that every single day is a blessing.

Be nice.
Be kind.
And be careful.
Be smart, have fun and don't ever think you're invincible.

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