Please give applets time to load.
Move Your Pointer Over The Picture To See The Effect.
Your Browser may not accept Java Script.
The light will also follow your pointer.
Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java.
No Less A Starfish
About eight weeks after my first mastectomy, I agreed
to accompany my husband on a business trip to Connecticut
and Rhode Island during June, with the understanding that I
could rest as much as necessary and not overdo it. In an
attempt to make sure we balanced pleasure with business
meetings, my husband asked if there was anything special I
wanted to do while we were in that beautiful part of the
country. Because I grew up in Arizona with desert and
dryness I have always had a genuine love of and appreciation
for the ocean. I suggested we try to get down to Newport
beach if at all possible. For me, there is something
therapeutic about the ocean. The waves, walking in the sand,
watching the tide, just experiencing the presence of the
ocean. Somehow I felt I would feel more connected to nature,
myself and the healing process.
Armed with a map and directions from the lady who sold
us our box lunches, we were on our way. The drive was
beautiful and far shorter than we expected.
We gathered our things and headed for the shore. I
couldn't wait to take off my sandals and scrunch my toes in
the wet sand. As we topped a hill, the beach looked like a
patchwork quilt of beach blankets. I had never seen so many
people on so little sand in all my life. We weaved our way
through the crowd toward the water. As I took a step, I
looked down, and to my utter surprise, saw a beautiful
starfish. I thought to myself, How could this be? All those
people, and no one stepped on it or even bent over to pick
it up. I was as thrilled as a child. For me it was magic: my
own personal gift from the sea. Then I realized something
unique about this particular starfish. It had a message - a
very special message. One of its arms was bent and curved
around. At that moment, from someplace deep within me, I had
an overwhelming awareness, a sense of meaning. This was no
less a starfish because it had a bent arm, and I was no less
a woman because I lost my breasts. I called it my "grace
moment." I realized it was no accident that I found myself
on that beach, that day, at that moment.
This experience was simply an answer to my prayer. I
knew I would survive breast cancer from that moment on.
Furthermore, I had a message I would willingly share with
others.
No matter what our setbacks, difficulties or pain, we
can get through them. Only through these moments of hell do
we reach deep down within our being and discover who we are,
what we believe and what is important and "real" in our
lives. We experience a "knowing of our soul."
Today, I have my little starfish on a special table in
my home. Every time I pass it I think of its message. I'm
grateful for the insight having cancer gave to me and for a
relationship with a Higher Power that blesses me with little
miracles on a daily basis. Most of all, I am grateful to
know in my heart that I am no less a woman because I lost my
breasts to cancer. I am more than my limitations.
By.......Katherine Stephens Gallagher
from Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul
Copyright © 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen,
Patty Aubery & Nancy Mitchell, RN
This page is a tribute to my sister-in-law Eileen,
who lost her battle with breast cancer after a long hard fight.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Home Page
Please go to my home page and sign my guest book.
Breast Cancer Links
Breast Cancer from Veritas Medicine
Breast Cancer Legislation--USA
Welcome to TheBreastCareSite.com
Breast Cancer Vaccines- New Treatments!
Breast Health Network - Homepage
National Breast Cancer Foundation - Home Page
Breast Cancer - Doctor's Guide to the Internet
Pink Ribbon Library of Icons By Carol Sutton
Page design and contents Copyright © 1999 by Fanny
FannyPoop@aol.com
Thank you for viewing my web page.
Background and images from Macmillan Publishing
Banner by Elon
page hosted by
Angelfire
