lymphoma

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Embracing

The Embrace and the 1965 Freedom Plaza by artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group on the Boston Common

The Embrace is a bronze figural abstraction based on a photo of an embrace between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The 20-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide artwork differs from the singular, heroic form of many memorials to Dr. King and others, instead emphasizing the power of collective action, the role of women as leaders, and the forging of new bonds of solidarity out of mutual empathy and vulnerability. The Embrace is an unprecedented attempt to give shape and prominence to Dr. King’s conception of agape love. It is also intended to reflect Coretta Scott King’s faith in the power of art, and her long life of struggle against militarism, poverty, discrimination, racism, and sexism.

City of Boston

One compensation for the many trips to Boston for cancer treatment has been the opportunity to visit people and places we might otherwise have not seen. On the last trip we had a pleasant walk through the Boston Common and Public Garden, highlighted by The Embrace.

It’s a moving sculpture, both in the sense of being emotionally significant and in the sense of conveying a feeling of life in motion. It’s a testament to the King Family, the Civil Rights movement, and what Boston hopes to become.

I’ve felt an embrace from the people around me during this cancer journey, especially from Susan, who’s had a harder time of it than I have. (I’ve slept through much of it.)

She said in one message to friends and family:

He’s grateful for all your concern and messages. He can’t easily respond to your messages, but we’d love to hear from you.

That was very true. I’ve felt support from everyone.

And of course, I can’t say enough about the many health providers at Dana-Farber, Outer Cape Health Services, Cape Cod Hospital, and more. In an era when public health is deteriorating rapidly, I’ve been fortunate to receive the best care in the world.

[This article is cross-posted on my semi-private cancer blog, Surviving Lymphoma. Login with your own WordPress account to request access, or write to me for a login and password.]

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Little appreciated benefits of cancer & chemo

It’s hard to avoid the negative aspects of cancer and chemo treatment: fatigue, isolation, and ruminations about life. But too much of that and we miss seeing the positives.

Let me name just a few of these:

  1. Losing all those stubborn pounds that have resisted diet and exercise.
  2. Being free to eat ice cream with hot fudge sauce. The fact that it doesn’t taste as good as it once did just means that I can eat all I want.
  3. Postponing dental appointments, colonoscopies, haircuts, and other invasive medical procedures.
  4. No dishwashing, carry out compost, pulling weeds, etc.
  5. Having an unassailable excuse to avoid meetings and other events that I didn’t want to attend anyway.
  6. Being insensitive to ambient temperature. I still get hot or cold, but it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the weather or what I’m wearing.
  7. Unlimited streaming with no guilt.
  8. Good excuse for my slowed walking pace; so much better than “getting old” or “being lazy.”
  9. Learning much about how our amazing body works. Like Heidegger’s broken hammer, we understand it best when it’s broken.
  10. Reminder to focus on the things that matter in the finite time we all have.