The best thing you will do for yourself all day is to spend the half-hour, hour, half-day or however long it takes you to read the eight posts Abigail Henderson has made so far to her brand-new blog, Hope Is My Middle Name.
Abby is a local musican, most recently of the Gaslights, who was diagnosed a few weeks ago with stage III inflammatory breast cancer. She's also a fighter, a warrior, a GODDAMN BARBARIAN with whom cancer will regret ever having tangled. And she's a fantastic writer, the kind whose inspired, hilarious and poignant prose will change you in the moment and leave you changed indefinitely. ...
Here's how she describes her diagnosis.
It came in the house on July 22nd at 11:45 a.m. It crashed through the door and freaked out the cats, set the dog barking, and pissed off my husband. It promptly thrashed the living room, broke all the glass, blew out the light bulbs. It changed every word in every book on every bookcase. It made the TV speak a new language. It shredded every bit of clothing I own. It emptied the contents of the refrigerator, kicked the butter and the milk and the salad mix to all corners of the kitchen. And then it sat down squarely on the couch and said I had to live with it now.
And from that same entry, the description of a dream.
I had a dream on Friday, and mama don't dream, but it was vivid and wonderful. I saw this whole thing play out. I saw my hair fall out, I saw the dark-lit chemo rooms, I saw myself on a gurney being wheeled in for surgery, i saw the scar the knife left, i saw me smiling...and all the while there was no sound except for a weird bird in the right corner of the frame, a crested bird with a white neck and a black beak and it kept squawking, rather strangely, "The White Light Will Beat It, The White Light Will Beat it". Now I don't know anything about all of that, but it comes down to you have your bird and I have mine.
That phrase, "it comes down to you have your bird and I have mine," is ... wow. That's gotta be one of the best, most real revelations I've ever read. And Hope Is My Middle Name is chock full of things like that.
Abby, thank you.
More! More!
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Your Music is so very important to me, Abby. I read your blog and think of you so often. My prayers and very best wishes are with you. Kathy is my daughter, she makes me feel like I know you and Chris. Love, M. A.
Thank you for letting us know about this.
Abby, you're in our hearts, and don't hesitate to let us know how to help in the fight.
I'll be checking in...
Danny
Thank you for letting us know about this.
Abby, you're in our hearts, and don't hesitate to let us know how to help in the fight.
I'll be checking in...
Danny
Thank you for letting us know about this.
Abby, you're in our hearts, and don't hesitate to let us know how to help in the fight.
I'll be checking in...
Danny
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