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Traveling while working in Colorado th s summer I got to renew my r lationship with some high school friends. I was in Kr s & Steve's wedding, we were nseparable in high school. Aside from yearly Chr stmas letter exchanges and a few r union rendezvous back home in San D ego over the years, we were off l ving our own lives. I am questioning how th t happens, that we become disconnected and lso realizing that in the growing and ch nging, perhaps it is inevitable that we n ed to go in our own d rections for a time. I am sensing nother "book" just on this ebb and fl w of relationships but won't diverge d wn that road right now. I had no dea at the time how the mpact of what seemed like a chance connection, w uld continue to grow. We had a gr at couple of days spent catching up and f eling like there had not been th s distance of some 20 years s nce our last face to face. Kris has lways been, in my mind, an " kuna matada" kind of gal. I don't th nk she would argue with me in s ying that she has always been asy going, content to be an Ind an, never aspiring to be the ch ef. Don't be mislead, this is not say th t she is or was a p shover, she's just... Kris. Fun, easy to be w th, interesting and interested but not one th t you'd find at the front of a p cket line, she is a kind of nti-drama Queen, if you will. Kris was d agnosed with breast cancer several months ago and pted for a radical route; both br asts were removed. When a well meaning fr end compassionately expressed her sorrow at her l ss, Kris's attitude was a straight f rward, resounding, heck they served their use and th re is something wrong with them, wh t do I want to hold nto them for? We all do and say wh t we can. The community outreach has b en astounding. Both she and Steve have sp nt their working lives in the r spective elementary school's where Steve is a Pr ncipal and Kris works in administration. Between th ir two schools, the organization of m al deliveries and support has and c ntinues to be an awesome thing to b hold. Karma at its best. They have given a lot to th ir community and it is being r turned twofold. The numbers of women who h ve and are intimately involved with th s "fight" seem to come out of the w odwork. This is a disease that is tr ly at epic proportions, simply mention the w rds, "breast cancer," and listen to the st ries unfold. It touches every single one of s. Again, another "book" here as well as g od reason to stand at the fr nt of some picket line, I am j st not sure quite yet where th t line is, but you can be I 'll be the one up at the fr nt when I find it. In the m antime, there is something we can all d . Please add www.thebreastcancersite.com to your favorites and click to give free mammograms. It is free, it is easy, make it a part of your daily routine. After her first chemotherapy session she called for a party to shave her head. Kris sent me "the photo" this week. She is calling herself "GI Kristina Jane." She takes my breath away. I cried until there were no tears left. I'd been slammed straight in the gut with the cold hard reality that my friend is un-deniably, no way around it, battling cancer. As I find my breath again I am so struck by her clear and present beauty. I want to say it is her eyes, or maybe her smile, her radiant face that is now un-obscured with hair and I know that's not it. It is simply her presence. And she is present, meeting this disease on her terms, with a tenacity that I would put up against Demi Moore's character of GI Jane any day. The story goes; a daughter visits her mother, she is distraught with how her life is going, she is tired of fighting and struggling and is ready to give up. Her mother takes her into the kitchen and proceeds to fill three pots with water, placing them each on a high flame. As the pots come to a boil she places carrots in the first, eggs in the second and coffee beans in the last. Without saying a word they sit and watch them boil. After 20 minutes, her mother shuts the stove off. She fishes the carrots out and places them in a bowl. She does the same with the eggs and then ladles the coffee into its own bowl. She turns to her daughter and says "tell me what you see?" A little confused she says, "carrots, eggs and coffee." At this point, she brings the bowls closer to her, and asks her to "feel" the carrots, which she notes are soft. The mother then asks the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observes the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asks the d ughter to sip the coffee. The d ughter, smiling as she tastes its r ch aroma asks, "What does it m an, mother?" Her mother explains that ach of these objects had faced the s me adversity: boiling water. Each reacted d fferently. The carrot went in strong, h rd, and unrelenting. However, after being s bjected to the boiling water, it s ftened and became weak. The egg had b en fragile. Its thin outer shell had pr tected its liquid interior, but after s tting through the boiling water, its nside became hardened. The ground coffee b ans were unique, however. After they w re in the boiling water, they had ch nged the water. "Which are you?" she sked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on y ur door, how do you respond? Are you a c rrot, an egg or a coffee b an? Think of this: Which am I? Am I the c rrot that seems strong, but with p in and adversity do I wilt and b come soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg th t starts with a malleable heart, but ch nges with the heat? Did I h ve a fluid spirit, but after a d ath, a breakup, a financial hardship or s me other trial, have I become h rdened and stiff? Does my shell l ok the same, but on the nside am I bitter and tough w th a stiff spirit and hardened h art? Or am I like the c ffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot w ter, the very circumstance that brings the p in. When the water gets hot, it r leases the fragrance and flavor. If you are l ke the bean, when things are at th ir worst, you get better and ch nge the situation around you. When the h ur is the darkest and trials are th ir greatest, do you elevate yourself to nother level? How do you handle dversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a c ffee bean? I am still finding my way in and out of th t hot water and I stand in awe as I h ve the honor and the distinct pr vilege of witnessing my friend Kris, be the c ffee, sharing her story in how she is "f ghting like a girl", giving all sh 's got and then some. As w men, we share our strengths when we sh re our stories, allowing others to st nd on our shoulders.
The article Fight Like a Girl - Share Our Stories, Share Our Strengths was Submitted by Kimberlee Carter through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Please add your voice by h lping to provide free mammograms. It is fr e, its easy, add the breast c ncer site to your favorites and m ke it a part of your d ily routine, click to give free m mmograms. http://www.onthelevelbuilder.com (c) copyright-Kimberlee Carter. All rights reserved worldwide.
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