AUTHOR: Marty, a.k.a. canape TITLE: My mother is beautiful DATE: 7/10/2007 11:25:00 AM ----- BODY:
I don't remember what my mother looked like before her mastectomy. I do remember what the swimsuit that she wore to Destin the summer before her surgery looked like. It was green and blue. A floral print. It had white trim. I thought it was beautiful. I thought she was beautiful.

Our neighborhood had a pool. There was a big red barn that had been converted into a clubhouse, and they had added a pool and tennis courts. The pool had a bridge over it that you could hide under, hang on, and if no grownups were watching, you could jump off of it. We loved to go to that pool in the summer, and Momma would take us whenever she could.

When I was 8, I wanted to go swimming. I wanted to go to the pool and jump off the diving board, hide under the bridge, and pretend like I was having an umbrella drink at one of the two cement tables anchored underwater in odd little cubbies off to the side of the shallow end. I wanted my mom to take me swimming.

She did at first. Momma didn't have reconstructive surgery. She took the scar where her breast used to be, thanked God for her life, and moved on. She was only 40. She had a very good prosthesis that was the same size, shape, and weight as her remaining breast. Her bras had pockets that this fake boob would slide into, helping her to feel like a complete woman when fully clothed.

It didn't take long though for Momma to not like going to the pool. Rather for Momma to not like putting on a swimsuit. Her prosthesis was water proof; that wasn't the problem. The problem was that when she looked down, she saw one breast, and then the indentation of where the other one should be.

The prosthetic breast was tucked safely into the pocket of the swimsuit where it never touched her flesh directly. And this view she had, of her one breast and one scar, was not one that she enjoyed seeing.

After another afternoon of begging to go to the pool, she finally told me that she didn't like wearing a swimsuit. I innocently asked why. And she told me that she didn't like having only one breast. She told me about how she felt about how she looked in the swimsuit.

My momma didn't feel like a woman. She didn't feel pretty anymore. She felt incomplete.

Momma.

You have always been beautiful. I don't remember you with two breasts. I know they were there. I know I leaned on them in church to take a nap. I know I cried into them when I decided I hated school in the first grade. I know you fed me with them. I know they made you feel more like a woman. But these are things I know now, not things I understood then.

What I knew then, when I was little, was that you had one breast and one scar. That is how I knew you, and I thought you were beautiful. I thought your fake boob was cool, and sometimes I would sneak into your closet and pick up the one you weren't wearing. I would turn it over and feel how cool the fake skin felt on my own skin. I was fascinated by this thing that was part of your femininity.

And it is. It is like makeup. Hair color. Shaving your legs. It is only something extra that makes you more feminine on the outside. It enhances your beauty, it doesn't define it.

I always saw you as a beautiful woman. The woman I wanted to be like when I grew up. And I know that I told you I thought you were pretty. But I'm not sure you believed me.

I will have to tell you again. And again. Until you know that I am telling the truth.

I hope that when my child looks at me and tells me that I'm beautiful, I will remember the way I looked at my mother, and know that they are telling the truth.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Ashley / Mean Mommy DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 2:04:00 PM EDT Gorgeous, gorgeous post. I hope my mother believes me when I tell her, too. I hope you don't mind, I posted this at Mommy Blog RoundUp, a site that showcases the best daily Mom Blog posts that I (and others) encounter. Let me know if you'd like it removed:
http://mommyblogroundup.blogspot.com/ ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Maddy DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 2:17:00 PM EDT Your Momma and my mum have a great deal in common.
Best wishes to you and your Momma ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Jenn DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 2:21:00 PM EDT You're a beautiful daughter. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Bubblewench DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 3:29:00 PM EDT How beautiful. Made me all teary here at work!

This ia one of the best Mom Blogs I've seen in awhile.

Thank you.

PS. I will be linking to this post tomorrow, hope that is ok. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Jennifer, Playgroups Are No Place For Children DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 3:54:00 PM EDT Beautiful, beautiful post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Robin DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 3:55:00 PM EDT What a beautiful post. It brought tears to my eyes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Bon DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 8:26:00 PM EDT oh dude. so very lovely.

i remember my grandmother having the same pocket boob, which i was fascinated by. i wonder now, that she's long gone, if it bothered her...if it made her feel like your mother did.

your lovely mother. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Oh, The Joys DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 8:48:00 PM EDT That was a beautiful one, friend. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous WhyMommy DATE:Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 10:02:00 PM EDT Your mother is beautiful. Always has been. Ever since I've known her. And thanks for the memories of the big red barn ... what good times were had there ....

Tell your Momma we love her and are so glad she's doing so well these days. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Ally DATE:Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 2:02:00 AM EDT I envy this loving and beautiful relationship that you have with your mom. I hope she's reading this blog and taking her beauty to heart. What a lovely way to express your love for her. I'm all warm and fuzzy and ready for a good night's sleep now. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Mamma DATE:Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 11:54:00 AM EDT Oh!! I hope your momma reads your blog!!!

That was beautiful--just like her daughter. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Izzy DATE:Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 8:26:00 PM EDT Hey Canape, Are you getting any of my emails? ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous luannemarie DATE:Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 12:12:00 AM EDT That has got to be one of the most heartfelt posts I have ever read. The beauty we see within our mothers as we grow and wonder what beauty our own will take.
thank you ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Tiffany DATE:Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 1:08:00 AM EDT Beautiful post. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Multi-tasking Mommy DATE:Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 7:30:00 AM EDT What a beautiful post and what an amazing daughter you are!!! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous MamaGeek @ Works For Us DATE:Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 9:07:00 AM EDT my mom had a mastectomy too so i completely relate. i love your words. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Clifford DATE:Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 3:32:00 PM EDT Baskin Robbins, baybee. :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous slouchy DATE:Friday, July 13, 2007 at 7:19:00 AM EDT Lovely, beautiful post, lady.

And that image of you with the pocket boob gave me goosebumps. ----- --------