When we were little, our mother and grandmother always told us that if we got up early on May Day, went out and bathed in the dew, we would be beautiful all year. Another golden opportunity lost. The morning dew did not see me today. Actually, the morning dew has never seen me--perhaps that's the problem. Even when I was a little girl (and yes, at one time I was a little girl--I've been 5 foot 6 since I was eleven but I didn't start out that tall), bathing in the dew just didn't sound like something I would like to do.
It's a holiday in Europe. Last year we went to the D-Day beaches and Mont St. Michel. It was a day of somber reflection and a dinner where we laughed so hard our sides hurt. It was our typical local dinner, complete with a first course of fruits de Mer that few of us recognized--or knew how to eat. After dinner, Tim, Lesley, and I walked from our hotel back to Mont St. Michel--about 3 miles round trip. We climbed up narrow streets and tiny little staircases and laughed lots more. I kept asking myself what I was doing out walking in the middle of the night. Unlike a normal walk, it was WAY longer on the way back. i just couldn't convince the two of them that since I was old enough to be their mother, they should carry me back.
I am now, officially, on Hairwatch. Everything I've read or heard says that hair loss usually starts between week 2 and 3 after starting chemo. Yesterday was week 2. I don't know quite what I'm expecting--to wake up with a head of hair left on my pillow, to shower it all off, to leave a trail of hair like Hansel and Gretl with the breadcrumbs. So I'm checking the comb and waiting. There's a lot of waiting with cancer. Patience has never been a part of my constitution and now I have to practice it on so many fronts.
I wonder if there is any dew left. Maybe I'll see if it works. Or maybe I'll save that for next year.
xxooxx
2 comments:
You don't need any dew, Mrs. Carlson - you're beautiful EVERY year! And yes, patience is a virtue (I keep trying to explain that to my dogs - they don't seem to get it) but that doesn't mean we have to like it -- does it? Oh I hope not. And you know, of course, never to pray for patience - because God will test you in order to increase it! Yikes! Love you always --
Forget the first dew of May - there is nothing like a good, sustained belly laugh to keep you beautiful, Annie. And Lord knows you've (instigated and) had a few of those, eh? They're the shoulder-shaking, can't-catch-a-breath, pee-in-your-pants, spew-the-wine kind of laugh that you can only savor with dear friends. Thank God for our precious moments!
love, KQ
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