Ode to Mrs. E

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, and her blogaversary, FringeGirl has asked her readers to blog about someone they know who had breast cancer.  I am incredibly lucky not to have anyone in my family develop breast cancer.  They simply develop insanity and excessive farting.  So I’m writing about Mrs. E.

Mrs. E is the mom of D, a 20-year-old young man with autism who I’ve known since he was about 9.  Mrs. E is adorable, smart, bubbly, and nurturing.  She absolutely never loses her temper or patience with D, no matter how trying things get.  Best of all, she keeps her sense of humor.

Sometimes D will obsess over violent themes, although he is a sweet guy who would never hurt a fly.  D will say things like, “If someone attacked me, I would have the right to kill them, right?  And it wouldn’t be fair to put me in jail, right?  If the police came after me I’d have the right to defend myself. . .”

Mrs. E always responds gently to D.  She says things like, “Now, D, no one’s going to attack you.  Let’s talk about something else, shall we?  No more ‘killing talk’.  If you talk like that, no one will like you.”

Suffice it to say, I love Mrs. E.  Years ago Mrs. E had breast cancer.  During her treatment she lost her hair, but never her patience.  She wore groovy bandanas on her head, and forged on.  Honestly, if it weren’t for the bandanas, you wouldn’t have known anything was amiss.  Mrs. E never complained, and always looked bright and cheerful.  She felt that she had to be, for D.

Mrs. E is cancer free, and has been for years.  Her hair has grown back, and she is as beautiful as ever.  But to me, she was at her loveliness when she was laughing  while wearing a bandana.

I just inspired myself.  I’m going to go get a mammogram.  It’s 11:00 pm.  I hope they’re still open.