Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1385705/being-human-holiday-gathering
Comment/ Blogs

Being human: A holiday gathering

3500 paper cranes for hope inside the Smith Center for Healing. Photo: Amy Wu

It took an entire season to get to the support group. Sure I'd gotten the reminders - the “save the dates” and the occasional email from another young breast cancer survivor who has asked me how I’m settling in, and oh-by-the-way there’s a meeting coming up for the young cancer survivors, and are you going? Thanks, great, and now let’s shift the conversation to the Kardashians.

But there’s always been some sort of excuse - I’ve been stuck inside the term-paper writing cave, I can’t get myself to the train station for the schlep, or maybe the fear of putting myself in the spotlight and doing an emotional striptease. I’d seen all of the movies before starting with the AA meetings. “Hi, my name is Amy, I’m 38 (a newly minted 38), I’m a breast cancer survivor and I’m really scared of being here because…”