Death Postponed

When I hear the words "Breast Cancer," I generally think of women in their 50's and up. I'm not surprised, however, when someone is struck with it as young as 30. It feels like an epidemic.

In 1967 when my mother contracted "Breast Cancer," one of many cancers, outreach hadn't yet blasted the media with urgent messages for women to assume responsibility for their own health through self-examinations and timely mammograms.

Mom was in a fragile state-of-mind (my sister had died less than a year before) and she could muster neither the energy nor the spirit to debate her doctor.

My lovely-figured mother had a radical mastectomy. One breast entirely gone. Not even enough tissue for optional reconstruction.

Mom was and is still beautiful. But it did dampen the joy of trying on clothes or going to the pool. She was reluctant to undress in front of us. She purchased a prosthetic. Yet her necklines became higher. And she was often discouraged about finding apparel that would accommodate her enlarged arm.

Alice Matzkin is a compassionate woman and a fine artist. In her paintings she focuses not on missing body parts but on the remaining heightened spirit and determination of her subjects. These women are real people who have courageously faced, wrestled, and postponed death with grit and renewed strength.

Be inspired or be touched. Check out Ms. Matzkin's website.

And be proactive in your own health.