To my knowledge, my mother has never watched Braveheart.
She abhors violence. Anti war. Anti guns. She does not even like fights in hockey. For her, there are so many better ways to solve problems without resorting to violence.
But she is still a fighter.
Why is this even relevant? About nine years back, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Which she fought off. She had a lot of help but in the end, I attribute her success to her willingness to meet the cancer head on and fight it off in mind, body and spirit.
She fought cancer off with the help of good doctors. With the help of good friends. With the help of our extended family. With the help of good drugs. But what I remember most was her reliance on the soundtrack from Braveheart. She listened to it constantly as she prepared for her personal battle.
Yet it still boggles my mind that she can't bear to watch the movie. Her fighting spirit does not want to see the violence depicted in that movie. As much as this confuses me, I understand and respect that.
Braveheart's soundtrack became her personal musical accompaniment. It traveled with her as she endured radiation and chemotherapy. It kept her strong, so strong that she would don her bandanna and head to the office for a day's work. I think her connection with that music was so strong that she does not need to see the battles in the movie since she faced the same in real life. The fiction, the history and the legend in the movie metamorphosed into her own story.
That's my Mom...she'd have made a good frontierswoman. She'd probably have carried all three of us on her back across the country while preparing meals, taking care of the oxen and giving directions to Dad. And she'd have made it look easy!
Unfortunately, to all of our surprise, she is dusting off her soundtrack. What started as some fears about a neurological issue rapidly progressed last Monday into a full blown cancer treatment. She had her first radiation treatment on Thursday. True to form, she went to work on Friday.
Where does this leave me? Confused and scared. It has clearly been a tough few weeks. I'm grateful that Jeff is home with our parents. I'm happy that I have such a strong support system here in Colorado when I am so far from home and parents.
And I'm so happy to know my mother is such a fighter. Here we go again, Ma. We are all on your side in this fight.
She abhors violence. Anti war. Anti guns. She does not even like fights in hockey. For her, there are so many better ways to solve problems without resorting to violence.
But she is still a fighter.
Why is this even relevant? About nine years back, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Which she fought off. She had a lot of help but in the end, I attribute her success to her willingness to meet the cancer head on and fight it off in mind, body and spirit.
She fought cancer off with the help of good doctors. With the help of good friends. With the help of our extended family. With the help of good drugs. But what I remember most was her reliance on the soundtrack from Braveheart. She listened to it constantly as she prepared for her personal battle.
Yet it still boggles my mind that she can't bear to watch the movie. Her fighting spirit does not want to see the violence depicted in that movie. As much as this confuses me, I understand and respect that.
Braveheart's soundtrack became her personal musical accompaniment. It traveled with her as she endured radiation and chemotherapy. It kept her strong, so strong that she would don her bandanna and head to the office for a day's work. I think her connection with that music was so strong that she does not need to see the battles in the movie since she faced the same in real life. The fiction, the history and the legend in the movie metamorphosed into her own story.
That's my Mom...she'd have made a good frontierswoman. She'd probably have carried all three of us on her back across the country while preparing meals, taking care of the oxen and giving directions to Dad. And she'd have made it look easy!
Unfortunately, to all of our surprise, she is dusting off her soundtrack. What started as some fears about a neurological issue rapidly progressed last Monday into a full blown cancer treatment. She had her first radiation treatment on Thursday. True to form, she went to work on Friday.
Where does this leave me? Confused and scared. It has clearly been a tough few weeks. I'm grateful that Jeff is home with our parents. I'm happy that I have such a strong support system here in Colorado when I am so far from home and parents.
And I'm so happy to know my mother is such a fighter. Here we go again, Ma. We are all on your side in this fight.
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