Day 124: Let’s All Go to the Movies

Cynthia Hawkins — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:52:07 +0000

Hello from the other side of chemo! It’s been a little over a week since my very last treatment, and I’ve been celebrating ever since. Of course, it’s just one phase that has ended. I still have a lumpectomy and radiation to look forward to (gah!), but in the meantime I’m happy to be almost all done with this cancer business.

One thing I had to stop doing when I started chemo, since I had to avoid crowds and germs while my immune system was more fragile, was venturing out to movie theaters. Roll up to the top of this blog, will you? You’ll note that it says: Cynthia Hawkins, Girl on Film. Mostly because I typed it in as a joke and now I can’t figure out how to undo it, but also because many people know me as a film connoisseur.

And few things along my journey have been quite as depressing as reaching the start of Oscar season without having seen any of the nominated films because this told me, unequivocally, that no matter how hard I’ve tried to keep things normal since diagnosis, things haven’t been normal at all. So, this past Saturday, Joe and I stood in our room having this conversation:

Me: “Ah man, I’d love to go see The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Joe: “Then go. You can do what you want now.”

I can do what I want now! (Not exactly, but I’m sticking to it.) So off to the movies I went while Joe stayed home to babysit the girls. No worries. I usually go it alone. That’s how much I love movies. And then on Sunday, my friend George Gaytan, who is a wonderful classical guitarist, invited us to the Hotel Contessa on the Riverwalk where he played “Here Comes the Sun” and gave me a bag full of movie books.

As I contemplated my weekend return to the movies, in a sense, I remembered how several posts back I told you how I altered my guided meditations to be film-infused and that I should record one of my own. Well, I did. For you. And for movie lovers everywhere. You’re welcome.

Previous “Box of Monsters” blog posts:

Day 3

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