Still feeling overwhelmed by the reception to my little talk on Sunday evening in Madeira Park. Between 50 & 60 people turned out at the event held at the small community church. I was very nervous at first, but gradually calmed enough to say something that bordered on intelligible. Several people came up to me afterwards and said they were both moved and inspired by what I had to say. A good feeling. Hope to have the chance to speak to other groups in the future. An unexpected side note: one woman in the audience, after completely ignoring what I said about how my faith and the support and love of the congregation at St Hilda's were in large part what have carried me this far on the journey, decided to make it her mission to help me "come to know Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ". Thanked her, but repeated the fact that I have both been baptized and belong to a church and faith in which I find great comfort. The woman had the gall to call me yesterday and tell me I was on the certain road to hell because I wasn't approaching my salvation "the right way"! Pointed out that I had been very polite and respectful of her views on such matters and expected the same from her in return. She repeated her assertion that I am damned. Told her not to contact me again, and hung up. Some people, honestly.
On a happier note, I did have the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Jean Curry, a fellow guild member who is fast becoming a dear friend. Seems we have a lot of common experiences, including breast cancer. I can't thank her enough for inviting me to speak on Sunday as I feel I got as much from the experience as the audience did. Thanks, too, to Yvonne Stowell who was both pew partner for the event and a comforting shoulder/warm hand when the emotion of it all became a bit much to bear on my own.
On a lighter note: I opted to continue sporting the Halloween "costume" that I first donned on Saturday evening. When I was in London in July, I picked up a packet of temporary tattoos for Donna as I knew she would be as taken as I was by the packaging graphics. I fully expected her to tuck them into the back of a drawer and forget them or, at best, place the package in some sort of a frame so she could admire it. Given that this was a tattoo meant for the lips, Donna insisted (after spying the red sweater I was wearing to the Maiwa event that night) we should actually apply the tattoos in celebration of Halloween. While I was tempted to purchase the polka dot or leopard tattoos, I opted for the Union Jack. Check out the other "Violent Lip" options at http://www.violentlips.com/
Now Donna and I are rational people prone to gather all the necessary information before embarking on a new adventure. Or, in this case, applying anything new to our bodies especially the mouth since it might interfere with future eating ability. As such, we carefully read the instructions enclosed in the package and also watched the suggested online video. Both reassured us there was nothing difficult or dangerous about what we were about to do. Reality soon hit the fan. Donna opted to play scout. She cut the top-lip tattoo as per instructions. She wet the paper backing in the way recommended. Then she pealed off the stuff to reveal - NOTHING!! Seems in all the excitement she forgot to remove the plastic backing before wetting the paper backing. Even tweezers couldn't help her rescue the quickly dissolving tattoo. Thankfully, there were three in a package, so she gave it another try. In the meantime, I was getting on with my on lip marking. Between witnessing Donna's experience and trying to hold my own upper-lip embellishment straight, I got the giggles. I couldn't stop. The video stressed the need to "keep the lips relaxed", but there was little hope either of us could manage that instruction. In addition to a lot of laughs, I think we managed to create the desired effect. Many, many thanks, Donna, for making this Halloween one that will stick with me for some time to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment