Catherine Gigante-Brown

Makeup and I have always had a love/hate relationship: I love it; it hates me.

It sounded too good to be true: comfortable, attractive bra inserts for breast cancer survivors like me. I got on the computer, checked out their website, and immediately put in for one.

As a breast cancer survivor, the worst day of the year is when I go for my mammogram. True, nobody actually likes mammos, but I’ve been bitten by one. On the way to my annual squishing, I realized that I have a bunch of coping strategies.

I was 21 –– a Catholic, heterosexual college student, living at home in Brooklyn and still trying to discover who I was. At the crossroads of her life, Lorde knew exactly who she was. She was waging a war against cancer and sharing an old house in Staten Island with her kids and partner. But maybe we weren’t so different after all.

From New York to LA, this lady knows a good story.

I’m sure you’ll find it a delicious and well-stocked place. There are just a few rules

Food can be more than nourishing; it can be healing.

I saw my present mother-in-law in a whole new light the first time she held my newborn son.

You learn a lot about people when you live in their home. The Taylors seemed to lead a joyless, Spartan existence.

I sat obediently in her chair atop four ancient copies of the Yellow Pages. Crossing my fingers, I prayed Catholic schoolgirl prayers.