About a month and a half ago, my best friend got diagnosed with breast cancer. She lives outside of Boston, got her screenings/MRIs every 6 months (as they were keeping an eye on a calcification) and, then, out of the clear blue, cancer. I was able to be with her during the selection of her “team” of doctors, the ones, who,Thursday, will do a double mastectomy and begin reconstruction. I will be there, sleeping at the hospital and taking care of her during her first week of recovery…that’s what best friends do.
You see, we met when we were 7 years old. Just starting 2nd grade- Mrs. Transfaglia’s class- can’t make that one up! Sometimes you don’t know why you become friends with each other. You just do. She was smaller than I was (still is and most of you know that I am short) and, it ends up, lived just around the block. Besides that, we both wore cat glasses and were a touch awkward.
This may have been just enough criteria to start our friendship. Who knows, all I know is that we have been through everything together. And…I mean everything. Getting in trouble in school together (although, she still denies this), fighting and not talking to each other for the first half of fifth grade, crushes, boyfriends, first kisses.
We were 2 of the only kids from our high school in Burlington, MA to head out of state for college. Rhonda went to University of Arizona and I attended CalArts. We were rebels, not the status quo. We headed home for our breaks, hung out over the summers. In January of my sophomore year, my dad died suddenly…Rhonda hopped on a plane and flew back to Burlington to be with me, even though we had both just been home over Christmas break. This was certainly not affordable for her family at that time, but she did it. That, to me, was the cement in an already solid sisterhood. She was my sister, as I only have a brother. She was always going to be there for me, as I would be for her.
We went on to graduate from our respective colleges and Rhonda went on to law school. I went to work, married Dave and in 1987, we moved to Ireland. She came to visit us there and the trip to Galway that the three of us took still makes us laugh to this day. Then, it seems, life took over, Rhonda got married, we both had our kids, we both had careers and although we could pick up the phone at any time, we fluxed in and out of closeness.
Jump to early 2002. Both so affected by September 11, we boldly boarded planes and met at a spa in Lake Austin, Texas. We had an amazing time although Rhonda said we will never return because it was too isolated and she couldn’t get her Starbucks (her 2 a day addiction). We got closer during that trip and began to take yearly trips together to catch up, relax and stay close.
Now, you can read the rest of our story here at: My Best Friend’s Cancer.
I wrote this as a lead in because I decided to walk 26.2 miles on September 17th & 18th, 2011 in Santa Barbara, to fight this disease. I not only tell you the whole story of our friendship but that I am raising funds for my walk.
It is so important for every woman to get screened. We have an amazing Breast Imaging Center up here in Santa Clarita; The Sheila R. Veloz Breast Imaging Center, a service of Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. My OB/Gyn is in Tarzana and I used to get screened down there.
Quite few years ago I switched to the Sheila R. Veloz Breast Imaging Center and I have never been happier. They are professional, kind, and caring. I have needed to go every 6 months for about a year and a half now, they are just keeping an eye on something, but I sit with the radiologist and look at my films and they explain everything.
It’s scary enough getting the letter that you need to come back, but the place you go shouldn’t be cold and uncaring. The women who work there are beyond compassionate; they are simply fantastic! I am so proud that we have the Sheila R. Veloz Breast Imaging Center at the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.
Please take a few minutes out of your day to click through to my site, to read the story that should feel familiar; we all have friends like I have; someone you can’t imagine not having in your life.
Please support me in my efforts to end breast cancer. It may be a challenge to walk 26.2 miles, but it is nothing compared to the fight that hundreds of thousands of women face every day. To donate click here: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
Nancy Bossert, Guest Commentary
Nancy Bossert is an artist and very good best friend. Her commentaries represent her own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization she may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.