The Monday Before Surgery Mid-weekend, in one frightening shared epiphany, Ramona and I remembered our lack of legal status. “We don’t have a single piece of legal paper to document our” – I counted on my fingers – “twelve year relationship.” “Our mortgage?” Ramona suggested as a joke. But we both knew, in a medical [...]
Posts Tagged ‘cancer and humor’
The Monday Before Surgery
Posted in The Monday Before Surgery, tagged cancer and humor, domestic partnership, gay relationships, marriage equality, same-sex marriage on December 15, 2011 | 3 Comments »
How Me
Posted in How Me, tagged cancer and humor, denial, diversity junkie, life choices, ovarian cancer on September 17, 2011 | 2 Comments »
How Me As my lips closed around the plastic circle and water tipped from the Poland Spring bottle into my mouth and down my throat, the thought intruded: What else am I drinking with this water? Plastic might be my enemy. I never asked myself “why me.” I obsessed about “how.” There’s no history of [...]
Prologue
Posted in Prologue, tagged cancer and comedy, cancer and humor, first time comic, life choices, ovarian cancer, same-sex marriage on July 1, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Prologue Clutching the mike is what new comics do. It gives the illusion of control. Not a bad thing to want, standing on a stage and performing stand-up comedy for the first time. After the opening joke explained away my bald head – “Never piss off your hair stylist” – the audience was in. I [...]
The Kindness of Strangers
Posted in The Kindness of Strangers, tagged cancer and comedy, cancer and humor, chemo, friendship, ovarian cancer on May 3, 2011 | 1 Comment »
The Kindness of Strangers Betsy’s first words to me: “How’s the constipation?” I instantly knew she understood. Chemo, hair loss, fatigue, nausea – these were the usual things people talked about with those of us who had cancer. Not shit. Not lack of it. Not the immobilizing, bloated, out of control, backed up, doubled-over painful, [...]
Uncle Tim’s Ring
Posted in Uncle Tim's Ring, tagged aunts and uncles, cancer and humor, life choices, nieces and nephews, not having children on February 18, 2011 | 8 Comments »
Uncle Tim’s Ring “Cathy, I wanted to talk with you. Can you come outside?” Tiny, sturdy Aunt Anne is halfway out the the rickety cottage’s banging screen door as she invites me to join her, away from the cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, sisters, brothers and mothers who comprise our annual Old Orchard Beach reunion. [...]
New Game Plan
Posted in New Game Plan, tagged adaptive leadership, cancer and humor, change, Kennedy School MidCareer, life choices, ovarian cancer, steroids side effects, sympathy on January 28, 2011 | Comments Off
Third Game Plan Marty Linsky is unimpressed with my ambition to join Donald Trump on The Apprentice and his slightly raised eyebrows indicate only marginal amusement with my stand-up comedy endeavors. I had not planned to tell him about either during our informational interview, but now, over coffee in the Portland International Jetport, I seem [...]
Career Ennui
Posted in Career Ennui, tagged adaptive leadership, adult children of divorce, cancer and humor, change, life choices, ovarian cancer on January 15, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Career Ennui Inbox stalking is never an attractive avocation. Three days have passed since my brave little email swooshed into cyberspace, hopes clinging to it like an invisible attachment. On day three, the awaited reply dings in. “Yes, I’d be happy to meet with you.” Back and forth exchanges result in a date several weeks [...]
December 26, 2003: Unexpected Invitation
Posted in Unexpected Invitation, tagged cancer and humor, diagnosis, not having children, ovarian cancer on December 26, 2010 | 2 Comments »
December 26, 2003: Unexpected Invitation “You have cancer.” The space between my brain and my ears fills with foam, buffering sound. The pastel exam room, small when we walked in, is suddenly cavernous, the doctor farther away on her swivel stool. Her mouth opens and closes and I think, I’m supposed to be catching the [...]
The Parents
Posted in The Parents, tagged adult children of divorce, cancer and humor, divorce, family estrangement, ovarian cancer on November 12, 2010 | 9 Comments »
The Parents We get home from the doctor’s, unsure of what to do next. I send Ramona to the gym so she can settle her mind by stressing out her muscles. “I’m okay,” I tell her. “There’s nothing we can do right now, anyway. Take care of yourself. That’s going to be important.” “What are [...]
Lord of the Rings
Posted in Lord of the Rings, tagged cancer and comedy, cancer and humor, nieces and nephews, not having children on October 19, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Lord of the Rings Eight-year-old Tim stares up at me, blue eyes bugging out of his head. What are you doing here, my nephew is thinking. It is the middle of the school day, a teacher has pulled him out of recess, and I am standing in the hallway. I am also hairless, which is [...]
