Writing

Am I A Musician?

As I write this, I’m about to make my musical debut/reprise –at an open mic night about a week and a half from now. I’ll be performing my newest musical parody lyrics to a tune from “Camelot” entitled “I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight.” I’ve been singing that song for years, usually to my husband, and occasionally after two or more drinks. I saw “Camelot” on Broadway when I was six years old, and it remains my favorite musical of all time. Recently, when an old friend

Nov 4

Am I Healing?

People continue to ask me if I’m “over” cancer. Or if I’m “OK now.” I still don’t know how to answer them. I remind myself that polite questions about health do not require an entire confessional about how I’m really feeling. But the truth is, I DON’T know if I’m “ok now.” There’s a joke that has made the rounds of the cancer posts and blogs that goes, “When do you stop worrying about cancer?” The answer is, “When you die from something else.” I have written reams about heali

Oct 28

Am I Strong?

If I could choose just one thing I wish people would stop saying to me, it might be this -- “You’re such a strong person.” There were a whole lot of things people said during my cancer treatment that didn’t work for me. This was just one of them. In fact, I wrote an entire piece called “ 10 Things Not to Say to Someone with Cancer, and What to Say Instead.” It’s on my blog somewhere, and I think on TikTok as well. I wrote this in April of 2021, during the first anniversary m

Oct 14

Am I "Over" Cancer?

Last April, my newsletter posting was entitled, “Am I Cancer Free?” Since April is the anniversary month of my breast cancer diagnosis in April of 2020, I’m usually asking myself a lot of questions about where I am post-cancer treatment in April. Now it’s October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Almost five years since I completed treatment for Type 2 breast Cancer. I don’t like “awareness months.” If people have to be forced into being aware of something, how reachable are th

Oct 7

Am I My Body?: Part Four

In 2019, I wrote, produced, and starred in a one-woman musical show on my 65th birthday. I still hate looking at the DVD. I was at my highest weight. Nothing I wore (and yes, there were several costume changes) looked good. I looked like a fat woman singing. We all know what happened in 2020. The COVID pandemic. By this time Ernie and I lived in a downtown high rise with its own little gym and swimming pool. I chose the building largely because of its athletic facilities. I h

Sep 30