Life Can Be A Bra Full Of Berries
Here at Common Ground we are always on the lookout for stories from women who have made the “best of a bad situation.” Kathy Higgins of Spokane sent us this wonderful story:
“Last May, after undergoing a mastectomy for breast cancer and beginning chemotherapy, I made a trip to Nordstrom to purchase a breast prosthesis and appropriate bra. It was necessary to leave the bra with the alteration department to sew in a prosthetic pocket.
“My husband and I were on our way to Seattle to attend our son’s graduation when the alteration department phoned to say my bra was ready. We picked it up on the way out of town and placed the sack in the trunk. The bra stayed there the entire weekend. Before heading back to Spokane, my dear cousin Jude sent along a bottle of Cascadia ‘cherry-blackberry’ for my refreshment. I hadn’t quite finished it by the time we arrived home. As I was gathering things from the trunk, I unknowingly spilled the remainder of my drink into the Nordstrom sack.
“I was horrified to discover several dark stains on my new bra. I hadn’t even worn it yet! I tried every trick to remove the stain. Nothing was effective. I finally purchased another bottle of cherry-blackberry Cascadia which I promptly poured into a bowl. Then I submerged the entire bra. It looks great - my cherry-berry bra! Truly one of a kind!”
Stop it: For sexual assault to stop, men, women and children must talk more honestly about it, bring it out into the open. On Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the courtyard behind the Spokane County Courthouse, there will be a candlelight vigil for victims of sexual assault. There will also be several speakers covering the legal, emotional and legislative approaches to ending assault. So come on out, if you’ve ever been a victim, known a victim or if you just want to be part of this awareness-raising vigil.
Hearty har har: Women are better equipped than men to survive a long-term natural disaster. So concludes Donald Grayson, a University of Washington anthropology professor who studied the fate of 429 Mormon immigrants who were trapped in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming in 1856; 68 eventually died of cold and starvation. Grayson found that the male mortality rate was three times that of the women.
The reasons? Men die at a younger age than women in normal conditions; women’s higher level of body fat better equips them against starvation.
, DataTimes MEMO: Common Ground is written on alternating weeks by Rebecca Nappi and Dan Webster. Write to them in care of The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615. Or fax, (509) 459-5098.