"Choose not to be a lady."

"Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."
                                                              ~Nora Ephron

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I finished reading Nora Ephron's "I Remember Nothing" memoir tonight. I randomly picked up this gem on a Friday date night trip to Barnes and Noble. This lady was brilliant. Not only did she direct and write some of my all-time favorite movies--Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and You've Got Mail-- she seems to have been a wonderful and feisty gal. Not gonna lie, now that I read her last book, she's totally one of my "Dead or Alive: Who Would You Like To Meet?" choices. (I'm also currently downloading 2 of her other books on my iPad as I type this.)

Why am I talking about Nora Ephron on a melanoma blog? Easy, this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want. Teasing!! The quote hit home for me. I read this quote while doing some background on Mrs. Ephron after I finished the book. I needed to know more about her. I wanted to know what she was thanking her doctors for in the end of the book. She hints throughout the book that there is something not quite right with her health; however, she never gives you enough to know what it is that's wrong. Turns out, Mrs. Nora was a cancer warrior too.  (read a great article here about her memorial.)

Back to the quote. I could be quiet about my (very intense) hatred of tanning beds. I could keep my medical crap private. I probably should keep 90% of what I post on this blog private. But you know what? People would not learn, this would just be another blog warning people about the dangers of skin cancer. My goal is higher than that. I need people to see what it is like LIVING WITH MELANOMA. It's not something that just goes away. That fear doesn't just disappear. That lifestyle change lasts forever. (Or it should. If you keep tanning after a melanoma diagnosis, I judge you.)

Maybe this blog offends some people. Some may think it is for my benefit only. (And they wouldn't be entirely wrong. It is the best type of therapy for me!) Others may think it's an attention seeker. Whatever. 


It's mine and I love it.

 

I'm breaking the rules by not staying silent.

I'm not always being a lady. (I mean, have you seen these pictures?)

I'm telling it like it is and pissing people off. (Like here.)

I am making some trouble for other young girls 

simply because I don't want to see them in the chemo suite. 

Tonight I thank Nora Ephron for motivating me

not to be a (silent) lady. 

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