My oldest and very loving, swell and attentive brother sent me an off line comment that I would like to share with permission.

“I’d like to talk about the whiplash thing.  I’m in Asia this week, staying in a nice hotel in Singapore, a thriving and very picturesque place.  Went over the bridge to Malaysia this morning where we saw a woman in front of her hovel washing what looked like the breakfast dishes while her little one did his business in the same stream (upstream).  So what’s my point?  We should all have whiplash.  I hope you don’t feel like you have to be perfect through this.  Fighting the good fight is important for you and the family, but it’s ok and maybe equally important to be real when it gets to you.  I think the kids see it for what it is.  You’re the best.”

He went on to say:  Anyway, I made a connection between my sighting and your comment about your ups and downs.  Maybe it makes sense, maybe I just wanted to talk about what I saw.  But I am intrigued by trying to find the balance between being too caught up in differences and being oblivious to them.  Whether it is as personal as your current ordeal or something as broad as the inequities in life.

I hope this makes sense. I know you don’t need the advice I am offering, but I needed to offer it to someone and your blog entry offered at least a vague invitation. I hope you’re feeling ok. I look forward to the next entry. It’s how we keep track of you.

Thanks R.  I’m so fortunate to have you in my life.  Anything you have to say to me is a gift. Truly.

I saw the movie “Angela’s Ashes” this weekend.  Somewhat like R’s experience in Malaysia, it had quite an impact on me.  Being a child in Ireland in the 1930’s is so far out of my realm of experience.

One way I’ve been working to avoid whiplash is by being more awake.  I like to think that my eyes are open most of the time.  (Thankfully I’ve inherited Pop’s sleeping gene, so I must confess that my eyes are CLOSED some of the time.  As I digress, I just have to say that I’m grateful that, to date, I have NOT inherited his peeing gene – hey, with 4 brothers, I must have some crude “Y” need to talk about bodily functions once in a while…those who know me really well might say it’s more often than that…)

Through your comments on this blog and off line, I’m learning that my family’s experience with breast cancer has ‘awakened’ a lot in many people.  If you are moved to comment, I’m very interested in what it has woken up in you. (click on the paper tacked with a push pin to the right of the entry title if you want to comment)  Now that I think of it, we developed this blog to ease some of the whiplash after being diagnosed.

I’m happy to say that I’m feeling quite well.  Days 7-14 of the cycle are groovy.  The carpet in the bedroom is history, the walls are were patched this morning.   I had the true honor of going to support an elder for a few hours today.  B and the man cub had quite an adventure camping this weekend.  A finished her Rube Goldberg project with some of her classmates JUST in time…and she told me today it was the only one that was successful the first try in class.  The things of every day life are so vivid today.