Thursday, July 21, 2011

The critical need for ovarian cancer prevention research « Thoughts from FORCE

The critical need for ovarian cancer prevention research « Thoughts from FORCE

The link above will take you to the latest blog entry from Sue Friedman, Executive Director of FORCE, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered.

Women who carry the BRCA 1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation run an increased risk of ovarian cancer over and above the average woman in her lifespan. Because of the opportunity to poll the members of FORCE and the BRCA community as well as women with a previous diagnosis and those with Lynch syndrome, we tried to develop a prioritization of the prevention of this silent killer.

Please read the article and share it with others. Ovarian cancer is sneaky. It is hard to test for it until it may be too late. The research and studies are ongoing to help identify how we can better save the lives of many women across the world.

Love and hugs,
Beth

Monday, July 18, 2011

Bucket List? Why Not! The First 10.

I got to thinking that life is too damn short and I wanted to create and examine a bucket list. My parents had one too and it had one item: See Australia. My dad died in 1989 but my mom got to their dream destination in 1995 and went with her sister. They spent 3 weeks there and had a great time in both Australia and New Zealand. Ten rolls of film have proven that point.

So, I am having trouble itemizing my list. Should it be done alphabetically? With importance being the deciding factor? Based on the probability of completing the line item?  Nope, I am doing it as they pop into my head!

1.  See Washington, DC again with Larry. Whether or not the kids or grandkids come along is not relevant. I want to see it with him, together. It will be different experiencing it through his eyes and mine.

2.  Visit Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. When I saw it the first time, it was just the Hall of Fame. But there is so much more! The Farmers' Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, Glimmerglass Opera and the New York State Historical Society. I have done some research and it appears that we could spend more than a weekend and really enjoy the splendor of that section of New York State. By the way, on a historical note, the town is named for Judge William Cooper, father of James Fennimore Cooper, who originally purchased the land.

3.  Seattle, WA and the outlying area. Okay, I will admit, three authors I really love have written about the area: Stephanie Meyer, Twilight Collection, Nora Roberts, The Search and Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Series. Although Cedar Cove is not a real town, Port Orchard about whom it is based is there! Maybe in honor of Bella, which was my paternal grandmother's name and my namesake, I will visit the real Forks. I also have friends who live in that area as well as in Oregon.

4. Mt. Rushmore National Park!  Never been to South Dakota either so this can be pretty tremendous. There had to be a very good reason for artist, Gutzon Borglum, to have picked these mountains. Yes, another piece of trivia that rattled around in my head and a push to see his creation!  Other National Parks are further down on the list! While there, it will lead to.....

5. We need to see the sculpture of Crazy Horse in the Black Hills. This past June celebrated the 135th anniversary of the battle of Big Horn. A bit of combined trivia: Korczak Ziolkowski, he too an award sculpture, came to help Borglum with Mt. Rushmore. He was asked by the Chief at the time, Standing Bear, to design and sculpt a project memorializing the Indians of North America.  My art history teachers would be proud of what I have retained after all these years.

6.  NEW YORK CITY! I want a week to see so many things but maybe one day would suffice. I want to see NYC again as an adult. Wander around the MMA, Broadway with maybe a show and dinner at a NY Jewish Deli. I have never been to the Guggenheim so that should be in there too.

7.  Mystic Seaport, CT is a tourist trap after the movie came out but I need to see it.  On a trip to Newport, RI with my ex-husband, I wanted to stop on the way to or from and he wouldn't. So, I am going to see my denied pleasure and have some great seafood!

8.  While on the East Coast, I have never been to Boston.  Baseball season would be terrific...they didn't replace Fenway Park did they? Even if they did, I want to see the BoSox play. Boston Commons, the Swan Boats, tour of Harvard and JFK's library, the New England Aquarium, maybe the Boston Children's Museum if we have time. See! I have thought these things out!

9.  Newport, RI is very near to a very good friend who lives in Warwick. Then again, RI being so small, nobody lives too far away from one another! Larry has never seen the Mansions of Newport and I want to visit them again as well as Green Animals sculptural gardens. One of the best places I would bet to get a lobster roll and I aim to have one!

10.  Freeport, ME.  Take a guess, the first three don't count unless you have never heard of, you GOT it, L. L. Bean!  It is open 24 hours a day. Wow, shopping at the outlet whenever we want. However, as I have looked into that, nothing else keeps hours with L.L. Bean so better off going back to the motel and sleep until breakfast. Maine is as far north as we can get on the East Coast and I want to see the sun come up there with a great cup of coffee keeping my hands warm as my heart fills with nature.

So that is the first installment!  There are friends in all of these places that I can also visit while knocking things off of my list. I need to sit back and think of more but my mind is whirling on a weird axis as it is with of all these places.  Looking forward to sharing more with you!

Love and hugs,
Beth