My Genes Tether Me
My father and I were bound by birth. While my mother did all the work (gladly I believe), I decided to appear on my father’s birthday. Tied together by the stars, my father and I share a friendship that is above most other connections in my life. We are both fiercely sensitive, thoughtful, patient, and seekers. So when my diagnosis of both BRCA+ and triple negative breast cancer entered my life this fall, my father (and mother I must add) sought to know more about this disease. I understood his fears, it was a disease, which had taken the life of his mother when he was still a child.
Any diagnosis sets an individual and their family spinning. It is a whirlwind of information, and with breast cancer being so amazingly funded and supported by millions of people, there is an overload of pink, smiling stock photos and endless websites. But it was Sharsheret that brought calm to my father during this period. The immediate understanding that he found in Shera’s answers and the knowledge that I was getting amazing support from the group brought ease to my family.
My father is an apologist. We all have things we need to apologize for, but for some of us – it falls too quickly on our lips. “I am sorry” he said, “for whatever role my genes played in this”. I could never accept this apology; my genes tether me to a wonderful father who raised me that it is ok to seek help, guidance and love. For this, I am forever grateful.