If You Can Make it Here...God Love You!

Life in New York has recently been, how should I put it?  Wacky?  Cuckoo?  Doolally?  Kooky?  Of course, we finally had the "storm of the century" that the scientists (or, as the right likes to call them, pessimists) have been predicting for a while.  So, I feel okay buying beachfront property now, since the next destructive hurricane is pencilled in for around 2110.  Thank goodness!  Many of my friends' and coworkers' lives were shattered, and many more of my fellow New Yorkers were coping without amenities that we, in this country, take for granted such as power, fuel, heat, food, and water.

I'll see your hurricane...

...and I'll raise you snow and
 a cold snap

And then, just over a week later, we were struck with a Nor'easter.  People endured, but many trees that survived the hurricane just gave up at that point.  It was frigid, and my heart went out to those who still did not have power.

On top of all of this, which was layered on an already tough job as a working mom, I am trying to deal with my cancer diagnosis.  Since my biopsy, for which I was out for three days, I have since taken another day to get doppler images and sonograms so that I can get neurological clearance for my radical hysterectomy.  I was to take a day last week Monday to get that clearance from my neurologist, but school was cancelled all week, as was my hard-earned appointment.  This week, the students returned on Monday, but they were out again on Tuesday for Election Day.  Happily, my school allowed teachers to volunteer on this day rather than go in for professional development.  Next week Monday is Veteran's Day, so another day off, and on Tuesday I get my PET and CT scan, plus hospital medical clearance.  I go back on Wednesday, but then I'm off Thursday to get my Primary Care physician's clearance and my makeup appointment with my neurologist.  Then, finally, finally, I'm clear for takeoff and I take off (lots of takeoffs there) another two days at least for my surgery.

I'm surprised I'm in as good a mood as I am.  Some of my optimism is from the huge outpouring of love that I've received since getting my bad news.  Some of it may be from the unity that communities usually feel in the wake of a disaster.  I feel like I've become accepted from my coworkers; schools in New York City tend to have a hazing period where many of the staff give newcomers a hard time.  I figure it must be like joining the army: the first few months are torture, and if one can get through that, then they want you on your team.  Like teaching isn't hard enough without those people who are unpleasant and unhelpful!  All but the most barbaric woman have softened towards me.  Trust me, when you are the most uncivilized person in a NYC public school, you must be very, very, very rude.  It's true that if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere.  It's only in the toughest of tough towns that, in order to win appreciation and kindness from my coworkers, I needed cancer?