Vignette of Courage

For a change of pace, we decided to go to SeaWorld in San Antonio. The weather seemed like it would cooperate - Hurricane Dean was still in the Caribbean and Tropical Storm Erin had passed to the south of us. It was a window of opportunity that we could not ignore.

We were right. The weather turned out to be beautiful and not too hot. Despite being in the middle of the summer, the roads to San Antonio and the park itself were not crowded. We got good seats in the shows we wanted to see and got to ride all the rides we wanted to ride. This includes their new ride: Journey to Atlantis.

The title I chose for this posting refers to something we saw at the park. While we were walking from the Rio Lobo raft ride to the Great White roller coaster, we passed an attractive young woman with her family. The striking thing about her was the fact that she very obviously had lost her left breast to a mastectomy. She made no attempt to hide it - she wore a blouse that was essentially a tee-shirt. In all other ways, her behavior and that of her family were completely normal. Few other park visitors even seemed to notice her or her condition.

From what I have read in the popular media, the mental and emotional effects from loss of a breast is described in horrific terms. Yet, here was a woman who belied these articles.

I applaud her courage.