Amazing Women

Today I had the privilege of teaching seven breast cancer survivors. They had asked me to present nutrition information to their weekly group hosted by a local regional medical center. I did my best to provide a summary of how to eat optimally, how to conceptualize and create, very practically, a pattern of best nutrition.
[If interested, please read my Nutrition piece on the right hand side of my Writing page on www.eldermuse.net.]

From the moment I walked into the meeting room and was greeted by the first woman there, I knew that I was not dealing with an ordinary group. As they kept arriving and talking, I was struck by their honesty and forthrightness in dealing with their struggle with mortality.
They are dealing with the matter-of-fact reality of women having to drastically change their priorities, their attitudes about themselves, about how they look, how their bodies appear to the world, about care of themselves, about care of loved ones now, and after; about interfacing with an entire medical community which they'd heretofore never even considered maybe never even knew existed

They have each spent a good chunk of their lives keeping appointments which no one truly believes they will ever have to make. They have chosen to place their lives in the hands of medical doctors who they have come to love and trust. Some have always or newly loved God and are using Religious Faith to heal. Some have totally embraced the fact of loving themselves, living day to day, attempting to not think of the future. Some of these women understand the need to live life consciously, deliberately, lovingly, with gratitude and appreciation, with awe and wonder and joy, daily. Marilyn told me that this is how she lives. Marilyn shines.

Each is coping with everything the typical middle aged or older woman faces, everything that goes wrong, that can go wrong, in our ordinary lives, getting into the world, interacting with the world, dealing with spouses, family, friends, work, chores....they face what everywoman typically faces, plus they top this off with the daily recognition of loss.

I shared what I know about eating to keep us whole, eating to help mend the world, eating with love for our bodies, eating for joy and flavor and pleasure. I attempted to summarize hours of what I would want to tell them in too short a time.

Thus I realize as I write about seeing these Amazing Women that I want to return regularly to be surrounded by women who are dealing with some of the deepest feelings a human will ever have.