(Liz, dressed for hiking, enters with a walking stick in hand and wearing a backpack.)Hi! My name is Elizabeth Andra Shaw and I'm on a great adventure — a journey called Life, a journey to answer
question, "Who am I?"
The first 44 years of my life, I lived in a place called Hatville. It was an exciting place. Everyone was very busy because they were wearing many different hats. In Hatville, hats are very popular. People collect hats, and some hats are so rare that they confer great status on their owners. There is competition and envy surrounding high status hats.
I picked up a few hats myself while I lived in Hatville, including Daughter Hat, Sister Hat, Physical Therapist Hat, Medical Editor Hat, and Wife Hat. In fact (Liz shrugs off her backpack and extracts a hat) here is my favorite, Phoenix Mercury Fan Hat! (Liz excitedly models hat for audience.)
(Liz turns suddenly serious and leans on her walking stick with both hands.) There came a day, however, when I received word that I could no longer stay in Hatville. I was told I would need to go to neighboring country. Well, I didn't want to go! I had heard about that country, its rough terrain, pain and suffering that were commonplace amongst its residents. But I was given no choice, and so I set off from Hatville to Cancer Land.
I was interested to learn when I arrived that residents of Cancer Land also collect hats, but there is no status attached to them. Hats are merely a way of keeping sun off a tender bald head. There was less hustle and bustle there, but just as much activity. Instead of chasing status, residents of Cancer Land kept very busy counting their blessings. A gorgeous sunset that God painted just for me. The whirr of a dragonfly passing by. The softness of a kitty's belly. As I became busy counting my blessings, terrain didn't seem quite so rough and suffering didn't seem quite as unbearable as I had heard it would be. I learned to be content in Cancer Land by living in moment and receiving all of its blessings. I also met my inner child, and here is one of her favorite things. (Liz extracts a stuffed animal from backpack.) This is Gideon, my chemokitty. He went with me to treatment because my other cats weren't allowed. Yes, Gideon and I did a lot of tough stuff together.
