It is not very often that I find that I am tongue tied. I found myself in that rare situation ,unable to utter a word last week when my sometime kitchen help, Waheeda, told me she had breast cancer.For the umpteenth time last wednesday, ,she had rapped on my door "come in " I yelled trying to outdo the whirr of my extractor fan. She smiled, the same painful smile I,d noticed over the past three weeks each time she tried to find me less busy so she could talk. I,d always rattle on about my own "problems" which in comparison to the burden she,d been carrying now shamefully seem so trivial. First I,d rattled on about how my highly strung girl toddler had whacked at the telly in our living room with her toy microphone and cracked the screen. Next,it was the fact that I was so busy with the kids and work that I hadn,t been able to visit my hairdresser to get my hair done.On each and every occasion, she,d listened intently and offered advice and had gone away promising to call or perhaps see me the following week and in all that time , she,d been literally dying to tell me!I,d never felt more vain in my life! My eyes welled up with tears as I gave her a warm embrace and searched for the right words to say but none forthcame.
There was a reason the right words refused to suffice. Last year after a sudden diagnosis of cancer, Waheeda,s mum died. Herself and I had struck up an unusual friendship which benefited me greatly as she was so full of wisdom.I came to regard her as a second mum . She freely offered maternity advice and I will always regret that she did not get to meet my baby girl whom she had so rightly predicted before I had even gone for my first scan.! I still miss her wholesome advice and help and humour.Dear God ,please help mankind eradicate cancer !
"I am going nowhere I have my baby boy to take care of " Waheeda said steel in her voice.She has a 7 year old son. "Of course you are going nowhere we won,t let you " I said remembering the story I recently read about a woman who managed to beat her cancer into remission by altering her diet with anti oxidant rich foods such as almond milk,tumeric and spinach.I made a mental note to do some more research as I searched her face achingly fearful of what the future must now hold not just for her but for every woman including those like myself who are afraid to feel their own breasts for lumps hoping that it may never happen to them.
May I use this opportunity to thank you dear readers for reading. I apologise for not writing more often. I promise to write more regularly next year. May all your Xmases be safe. Tons of love. Kiru.
