Tag: Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop

The Wrong End

Posted on by Sarah Marshall

Brooke LOVES helping me open packages that come in the mail. One day this summer, I got a prize pack from Johnson & Johnson with a tote bag full of their products, including a tube of Desitin. She was having fun putting the bottles in the bag and taking them back out so I left her to have fun while I got dinner started.

Then I realized it had been quiet for too long. You know what that means with a toddler in the house….

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She had somehow busted through the factory seal on the tube of diaper rash cream and smeared it all over her face.

And clearly felt tremendous guilt over it.

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Scarred

Posted on by Sarah Marshall

I have scars.  I have a scar on my nose from when I went face first into a glass top coffee table as a toddler.  I have a scar on my arm from a silly fight on the school bus in elementary school.  There are probably more that I’m not even thinking of.  They are all either in spots that are easily concealed or that I can’t physically see.

But there’s one scar that I can’t avoid.  Its the scar on the back of my hand from my melanoma excision.  Its been almost 8 months since the surgery and the scar is still red and quite visible.  I’ve browsed the drugstore and looked up natural, alternative remedies to minimize it but ultimately walk away with an “eh, I’ll worry about it later”.

Just writing about this scar is somewhat awkward for me.  In terms of cancer, mine barely counts.  It was classified as stage 0, caught before it spread any further than that one little mole.   So who am I to talk like I survived some battle with cancer?

But that’s not what this scar represents.

When I look at my hand, I see the possibility of a completely different outcome.  I feel lucky, grateful, relieved.  Had I not seen my dermatologist that day, that melanoma most likely would have continued to spread and the nightmare might not have been over with a simple, outpatient procedure.

My scar speaks to the value of early detection and the importance of taking care of yourself.  Do self-exams, see your doctor regularly, know your risk factors, be aware of your body so you know when something’s not right.

What do your scars say?  Do they tell a story?  Teach a lesson?  Make you laugh or cry?

This post is linked up to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.
Mama's Losin' It

THAT'S what that means

Posted on by Sarah Marshall

I have such fond memories of watching Grease with my cousin when I was younger.  She was older so if she said it was cool, it had to be.  We acted out scenes, choreographed our own dances to the soundtrack, dressed up like the characters, we ate up every piece of that movie.  It was the story of innocent high school kids in the 50s who fall in love…so sweet, right?

Only when I got older did I pick up on the innuendo.  You can believe that 7 or 8 year old me did not pick up on the fact that Rizzo was considering an abortion when she thought she’d gotten pregnant.  Or how uncool it was for Danny to push himself on Sandy at the drive-in.  Or how crappy it was that the happy ending was reached when Sandy changed who she was to conform to the way Danny’s lifestyle.  Sure, Danny tried to change for her too but the movie ultimately ended with Sandy sewn into black leather pants, who are we kidding??

This doesn’t mean I don’t still look back fondly at those memories of Grease marathons in my cousins basement.  But I wonder when its time for Brooke to watch it – and I hope its still considered a classic then – will our kids be so much more aware that she does get those things I missed?

I think I’m going to plant my head firmly in the sand while I can…..

This post is part of Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.

Mama's Losin' It