The Flip Side of Forty: Breast Party

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Breast Party

I had to share this, from my cousin Susan, who always surprises, amuses, and amazes me with her great take on life. Thank you, dear cuz! And thank you, Benja! Your girls look lovely!!

It seems we are running out of time for a breast party where we all get to wear construction-paper creations on our fronts. But merely imagining such a party with everybody showing up to flash you their various-shaped turtlenecks each decorated with bright unmatching handmade construction-paper flowers pinned on to the two appropriate places could bring a laugh when you need one. Or even imagining Jim and your Mom walking you in for surgery so decorated might crack a smile. I had had visions of the Bryant family pulling up to your house with the nine-seater Buick filled with Paper Mache Venus de Milos, figureheads and Mermaids pilfered from boat yards and family dining restaurants up and down the coast, but then thought the construction paper flowers more appropriate for a breast party for those of us with the less statuesque busts.

The surgery should take care of everything. You are still you, whole, walking in and you will walk out whole. Just the bad stuff is being excised. So just focus on getting through it and some things you and your body will do afterward. And get lots of hugs in beforehand, and a scar-avoiding hug strategy for afterward.

Attached are our solidarity pictures for you. I left my scissors at the scene of my break-in to your Dad's and Mimi's, so we used a leatherman. We found that pipecleaners and twisty-ties go through sweaters easily for anyone else who wants to send their own. ;)

Best, Susan (and husband Benja, on the right)

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The Love List--a Work in Progress

I love…

…Having time to really listen to music, not just a snippet or a song but a whole album at once. On vinyl. Or to dust off those old mixed tapes and give them a spin. Or, even better, catch a live show. Go to a festival. Dance.

…Finding new music that I love, again, just when I think there's nothing that will grab my solar plexus and send me spinning.

…Eating homemade pie. Strawberry rhubarb, wild blueberry, apple. To hell with cake. Cake sucks. Pie rocks.

…Watching, feeling, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting the change in seasons. From summer into fall, fall into winter, winter into spring, and spring into summer, there are moments that creep up on you, fill your senses with the tingling excitement and resignation that change is in the air, and compel you to shift ever so slightly in your consciousness to adjust to the coming winds, fill your sails, and go.

…That spiral of never ending change that lifts you up and takes you someplace you’ve never been before, then winds you back down to places you haven't been to in a long while, to refresh your spirit and blow the dust out of your wheels.

…This time of year, whenever it is.

…Singing. Really. I should have been a rock star.

...Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate. Dark. Creamy. Rich. Anything else just isn't worth it.

...Sleeping through the night (not always easy if you've been eating chocolate).

...Laughing. Because I don't do it enough.

...Dancing: the Hustle, the Bump, or Bomba with Dominick. It's all good.

...Freaks and Geeks. Far and away the best TV show ever. Brings me back to 1980, when I found myself doing the Lindsay-thing, trying to ditch the egg-head identity for a cooler vibe. Never did quite shed the geek thing fully, and I'm glad for it.

...Walking on sidewalks, crunching through the leaves, trying not to step on cracks, jumping from line to line, tree to tree, lost in an ambulatory haze of meditative delight.

...Any kind of walking. But you knew that.

...Animals. Nearly every kind. Even humans, though there have been days in my life that I have wondered if perhaps I get along better with animals of the non-human variety than I do with animals of the human variety.

...the Galapagos Islands. If you have never been, don't go; too many tourists are ruining the fragile ecosystems of these amazing islands, an evolutionary laboratory, Darwin's inspiration. Just know that they are breathtakingly beautiful, each one different, and home to animals that are found nowhere else on earth. I feel profoundly grateful that I was able to spend 8 days on the islands a few years ago. Trip of a lifetime.

...Costa Rica! The people, the food, the landscape, the Pura Vida vibe. Grateful for the time to experience a slower pace, and to be reminded of that essential, shimmering essence of living your days, through our connections with others, to nature, and to ourselves.