one of my dear aunts has terminal cancer. she fought a first bout of breast cancer into remission almost ten years ago, only to have it re-appear four years later. right now i can’t help but sound childish: i hate cancer. i hate it hate it hate it!!
i used to go to a church where certain people believed that our emotions manifest in the body. they also believed that we could heal our bodies by changing our thinking. while i think there’s some truth somewhere in there, when considering my aunt i wonder: is this how spunkiness manifests? is it fair to think that we bring on our own ailments? no wonder i don’t go to church anymore.
although i adore all of my aunts, when i was a kid i secretly called this particular aunt my favorite. she and i bonded over tennis. i loved her no-nonsense style and that she looked like debbie allen and was homecoming queen of her high school. whenever i would come home from college, she would take out her whistle and blow it in celebration. she is known for being the family secretary and a whiz with the curling irons.
as we grew older, i came out and she became an evangelical minister, so i distanced myself a little bit. i’m still her fan, and hope that (miraculously perhaps) her pain will disappear.
<< Home