Things We Won't Forget

There are days and times in all of our lives that we will not forget.  Yesterday, sadly, is a perfect example.  There are memories that we all will deal with in different ways; those big headlines that we will always remember and those on a more personal level that we, and a few close to us, may always recall.

Me? There are a few headlines I remember.  I was in the Student Center at my high school when President Reagan was shot.  I was coming up the basement stairs with a load of laundry when the news came on that Princess Diana was killed.  I was standing at the back door waiting to wave good-bye to my husband as he left for work, something I try and do every day he leaves first, when he yelled to me that we had been attacked and then turning on the t.v. to see a plane fly into the Twin Towers and Pentagon.  I will now recall being at work and having a text from CNN beep into my phone to announce the terrorist attack in Boston.

This week though, there are the other kind of memories that are hitting home for me.  Tomorrow, the 17th of April, was the day I went to Northwestern for my scheduled biopsy a year ago.  I had already had my diagnostic mammogram and an ultrasound a few days before that was questioned   I remember having the ultrasound tech tell me that she was going to bring in the radiologist.  The radiologist came in and she spent a great deal of time looking at my right breast and then showed me the ultrasound, something they usually do not do.  I saw the black circular area that spanned out a bit like a paisley design and I knew.  She told me she was concerned.  She was very kind and quietly waited outside the changing area to personally walk me to the scheduling area.  

A few days later, the 17th of April, I was back for the biopsy.  I was not nervous.  If you have been to Northwestern you know that it is more like a spa than a hospital, as a friend this morning told me when she was there for the first time.  Dr. M. came in and when the resident asked her if she still wanted me to have the biopsy, having seen the screen image, I knew that the results I would get were not good.

This Friday will mark the one year mark that I received the phone call telling me that I had cancer. It is a day that will be forever in my memory, my husbands, daughters and family.  It is a marker for me, something to use and look back on.  With regret?  No.

I pray for those who were killed, maimed and in any way hurt by yesterdays terrorist attack.  It is a horrific tragedy for all.  Most especially for the families of the three who were murdered.