Catherine Gigante-Brown

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

Alas, I am the lone female in a house full of men. Only two men, but they take up a lot of space.

"Bring over a meal—and leave. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, from soup to nuts. And coffee. Plenty of coffee."

I dreaded putting him back on Concerta in the fall but I knew I had to. Or did I?

I go for checkups when I’m supposed to: every three months to the oncologist and every six months to the breast surgeon. I go to SHARE support group meetings to bolster myself. I try to get enough sleep, despite the occasional night spent wide-eyed with dread.

We’ve pieced ourselves back together in a patchwork quilt of ragged emotions. The aftermath of 9/11 wasn’t easy for us, yet it was much easier than for some. People standing 50 feet away from Peter didn’t come home that night; he did.

I thought cancer was behind me. Until I had a weird pain near my left ovary which lasted for several days. It felt a lot like ovulation...Only, at 56, that train had left the station a long time ago.

The Ultimate Counter Culture Diva

"Remember, this isn’t just happening to you, it’s happening to moms everywhere. It’s not your fault — "

erotic. intimate. unapologetic.