Anthon

Happy Birthday Julie!

Glenn's daughter is graduating from vet school in May, and we will attend the graduation in Ames, Iowa. And we will make a pilgrimage to my hometown of Anthon, Iowa. I am so excited about this. I have never taken anyone with me to visit. The last time I was there was 2004 which would have been my 25th year high school graduation. 

We will stay with extended family who still live on family farms. When I left there in 1976, the population was around 700. At that time there were no street names, no private phones other than my dad who had a two-line phone, on for the house and one for his medical clinic. The phone had a little toggle switch. Otherwise people used CB radios to communicate, and he got plenty of emergency calls via radio. I got curious and looked it up on Wikipedia and here's what it says:

Anthon was home to Charles Osborne, who had the hiccups continuously for 68 years, and was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records [1]. It was also home to eunuchoidal giant Bernard Coyne, who was over 8 feet (243 cm) tall.

Anthon was named for J.C. Anthon, a railroad engineer [2].

The town is pretty much a dead town but there are two bars, a restaurant called The Fireside, a medical clinic and pharmacy. And a Subway out on the edge of town. In my time, it was a thriving farming community. Even 40+ years later, I will probably been called out as "doc's oldest girl" on the street. A party is being planned for us, mostly my dad's generation. 

Friday I get scans - last time was 3 months ago. Sometimes I'm terrified that the news will be very bad. and other times I think I'm fine. Mostly I think I'm fine but that's my default. Monday we meet with The Vix. This time Glenn will go and so will my sister. If Lucy is in town, she will probably go too.

I'm working a lot, probably too much, but I'm into it. Making art with Amy on Friday mornings, playing guitar and getting inspiration to write and record songs (on my phone) now and then. The image today is a piece I made recently while sitting in a cafe with Amy. I sent the image to my high school friend Julie, she loved it, and framed it for her birthday. A shout out to my dearest Jules.

Lady Grace

in the dressing room

Mastectomy bras. Did you know that some legislation passed in the late 1990's that requires insurance companies to pay for them? I didn't know that until I saw a poster at Lady Grace a few days ago. I've had them since 2008 but didn't realize it was a law and not just my insurance company being generous. It's a good thing - they are very expensive. The prosthetic is about $350 and the bras are around $50. Insurance pays for a new prosthetic and two bras every year which is a huge help.

Lady Grace is a family-owned business that had a store in Brookline for 30+ years. They have been in business for 70 years. I never went there until I needed mastectomy bras... and the prosthesis. The Brookline store closed last October so now I need to drive 30 minutes north to Woburn. But then I learned that they are closing the lingerine line of their business. And will offer mastectomy services only. How sad is that! I talked a lot with Audrey, the older woman. They are going out of business in part due to high rents but also because of online shopping. They are now offering a new service - for $3,500 they can create a personalized prosthetic. At the risk of over-sharing, after a mastectomy the chest wall is pretty destroyed. Weird indentations and all kinds of irregularities. I thought about it but I'm not sure the benefit and I feel guilty about my insurance company spending so much on me already.

These two women were a hoot. They are step-mother and step-daughter. They were like a comedy show, playing off each other. It was fun to be with them. And can they fit a bra!