Dimpled Smiles: UNMASK IT

UNMASK IT

October is here and women worldwide (and friends of women) are unearthing the pink goodies and ribbons that mark breast cancer awareness month across the world. Stand up to be counted!

If today you walked into a hospital for a check-up only to be diagnosed with cancer (of any kind) how would you react to such outcomes?

‘God forbid!’ you say and I absolutely concur. It’s frightening and definitely a dark world that we all are hesitant to venture into.

But then our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that Matter- Martin Luther King Jr.

Let’s turn up the volume…

Five years ago…

Here is a story of a woman whose perfect imperfections have made her who she is today,

A woman who undoubtedly comprehends that the very rug that you stand on today can be pulled off your feet with absolutely no warning,

A woman who strives to pursue her dreams no matter what life throws at her_ because she still believes in them,

As we sat together today in the comfort of her home, I couldn’t imagine how our conversation would turn out to be. I couldn’t comprehend how stout of a person she was to still afford a smile even after all the trauma. “I still remember that day like it was yesterday 5 years ago_ the day that doctors confirmed that I had breast cancer” she calmly said with a mild smile (one that felt grateful and humbling).

Her company feeling reassuring_ it felt pleasing in every way!

istockphoto.com

Her emotions were easily hidden on her jovial face. Yet her pain was evident in the tuck of her pretty brow and the down-curve of her lips. Her eyes showed the depths of her soul. They were built, firm and brave; a reflection of a deep pool of restless gold, an ocean of hopeless anguish, a blow that kept knocking her down only to watch her rise up and knock her back again. But above all, I saw an emerging glow of optimism and conviction of better things to come.

‘My world crumbled before my eyes; I watched as every single bit of it melted away and I hated it ’_she continued with a gush of such ache flashing on her temple anyone could literally touch it. Yet her passion to live turned her eyes into orbs of the brightest fire, and in them I read clearly that she would wrestle to the very last gasp for her life. She couldn’t let this malady rip off her free spirit. She hung on it with passion and that passion made her beautiful.

‘Today I live to tell a story of victory’, she affirmed, her skin lighting up with humour and assurance. Even though the dawn was still some miles away, I could sense a spark of hope; a ray of sunshine yet to come and I loved it.

‘Be informed, do self-examination. Don’t be afraid_ the importance of cancer being detected in its early stage determines the treatment and the success thereof. Be positive but above all, never give up_ we can’t give up now’, she tells me with such confidence and tenderness of a mother. I snuggled in for a goodbye hug in her warm embrace having learnt that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.