vanity...

About this time on Wednesday, I was putting on a brave attitude.

One of the two facial moles which I've had all my life had been determined by my new dermatologist to be a possible hazard to my health.

All I could think of was the loss of self.

It was not the only one taken, but it was the one most important to me.

During the night I was awakened by wetness of blood on my pillow.

That lone mole was seeping, necessitating a second trip to Georgia Skin & Cancer Clinic.

This time, electric cauterization was used to close off its blood vessels.

That was a very different smell from the chemical staunching agent.

I was a bit sadder about the potential loss of that mole.

Today, about another 24 hours later, I am even sadder.

That red triangle around my poor burnt mole speaks volumes about its unhappiness, and my own.

I've spoken with Andew, my British friend in Virginia, about it.

His wife had one taken off, in about the same place on her face, three months ago. 

His brother died of skin cancer three years ago, from a mole gone bad that went internal and poisoned his liver and other organs.

I understand about that, having had a scare with a mole on my chest forty years ago, when I was in grad school at FSU.

None of that logic and science can help me right now.

I need to know how I will find me in the mirror, when my face becomes asymmetrical from the loss of one of the moles that mark me as myself.

I'm tired of marking my birthdays with medical procedures.

How will I adapt to a new face?

Can I?

boys, boys, boys!

Tonight was good! I spent time with boys of summer, boys of science, and boys of Snow White, and we had SUCH fun!
The Sand Gnats have at last swarmed home for their first home game tonight. The weather had threatened rain and I had half-hoped it might, as I had other plans waiting in the wings - and, assuredly, rain did come during the game. My Boys of Summer were playing in front of a fairly large and loud crowd, but their opponents managed to score in their first at-bat. The rain came, delaying the game, then play resumed, but, as a friend pointed out to me, I just wasn't "feeling" it. So I left at the top of the third, almost 8 PM.
What fortune! I raced home, to be greeted enthusiastically by my boys of science on The Big Bang Theory. I had seen the promotional spots for the past week, announcing the visit of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking to the show, and I had lamented that I would have to wait for the episode to re-air as I would miss it. But I did not! Jolly good! I completely enjoyed the company of Howard and Bernadette, and Leonard and Penny, and Sheldon, and Raj - all nerds like me, even the cheesecake-slinging hopeful-actress!
What to do next??? In case you haven't noticed, I like trios, most particularly in my writing. So, I had two groups of boys, what to do about another? Well, it was officially too late to join my group of friends downtown, so I turned to my other love: cinema. Ah, the movies - I can almost always find what I need there. And so I did! I was in search of a tale involving a group of males, preferably a tale of mirth, and "Mirror Mirror" certainly delivered on all counts! A refashioning of the well-known story of Snow White and her seven dwarves, the movie was full of fresh humor and twists - and, it had a Bollywood-type ending! Splendid way to wrap up an evening, splendid, I say!