The Hot Chick with Good News

I wrote this on 9/28/2011 but have just gotten a chance to post it today. Life has been a little bit hectic, but what can I say? Life is like that, always full of twists and turns.

I went to the hairdresser’s on 9/28/2011. I had not seen Mala for over 13 months now – that is how long I have been covering my hair with hats, scarves and turbans. Well, I walked in, pulled off the turban and said, “Mala, I think I have enough hair for you to work with now.” She answered, “Yes, you do; how do you want it?” I replied, “I don’t know. I just wash it and let it air dry. I never look at the back or brush or style it; I just cover it up. You know how I used to wear it. I trust you. Fix it, just fix it.” She answered, “OK. And thank you for the privilege of doing your hair.” So I sat in the chair with my eyes closed, meditating, while she fixed it! Judging from the pictures that Al took afterwards, she did an excellent job! My flowers even approve. See how they are beaming when I pose next to them with my real hair?
I had my chemo that afternoon and found out more good news. Tumor markers are now down from 24 to 11.6!! Yea, God! I told Al I must go to the healing meeting (9/28/2011) at church and share the good news. So we did. I did not tell anyone about my new hair style, it was a surprise and they were amazed to see it! They all told me how wonderful and great I looked. I replied, “I feel wonderful; I feel great.” When I got to the front of the church to pass the peace with the priest, he summed it up in 5 words. “Al’s got a hot chick!” I couldn’t have said it better myself, Father Mark!

Pictures show me with my new hair in my garden. I have azaleas in the front yard in honor of my mother, Dorothy Waterman, because she grew beautiful ones in Richmond, Virginia. The elephant ear plant was given to me by a neighbor and I tend it in honor of my mother-in-law, Martha Cherry. When she moved to Florida from Illinois in 1959, she loved gardening and was especially fond of the tropical floras that grow here. One of the pictures she sent back to relatives in Illinois was of her standing next to a huge elephant ear that she had planted and grown. She, like Al, grew up on a farm and had a green thumb. So the picture of me standing behind the elephant ear is my tribute to her; in fact, the whole elephant ear plant and the seven babies it produced this season, are a tribute to her. She passed away in 1985, the year that I became pregnant with Dorothy.