"When we realize that the development of secure attachment includes the activation and mobilization of healthy, dynamic empathy...we offer our attuned presence to someone else who is in distress, and their attunement to our attunement - our collective withness - is the most effective interpersonal, neurobiological regulator."
~Curt Thompson, "The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope"
The last day all of our young adults were home, Aaron dropped me off at CARTI for my final chemo treatment. I didn't have to take a family picture this time, because my biggest cheerleaders would be arriving as the last few drops made their way into my body.
What I DID take was a massive strawberry trifle as a thank you. We made three angel food cakes with our favorite farmer's egg whites, vanilla pudding with the egg yolks, and we used the last of the local strawberries we had been saving for this very occasion. I knew of no better way to somehow voice appreciation for the many people at CARTI who serve the cancer community.
As the last milliliter flowed through the machine and into me, I snapped a picture and texted the family chat that it was finally time to celebrate.
The nurses, who have admired my picture for an entire year, finally got to meet my amazing team of "collective withness" who have carried me through rough times and brought me much joy.
My parents came, too!
When we returned home, I had one last surprise in store: silly string I found on the sale rack at the grocery store. A fitting way to celebrate this stage of the journey.
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