The Merits of the Case

I am reveling in my return to normalcy these days, and thankfully I have lots of things to revel in lately. I enjoyed every taste of wine and champagne and beer and cookies and lasagna and ham and candy and potatoes and garlic and all the other lovely holiday treats that crossed my palate throughout the past couple of weeks. I thought a lot about those days during chemo when I couldn’t taste a thing and I was thankful at every meal that I wasn’t going through treatment during the holidays. I am savoring everything that I love about good food more than ever before and hoping that all this gastronomical love doesn’t appear on my hips and thighs, as well.

Remember the tube of mascara I bought just before Christmas? It’s been opened and used. I have eyelashes that are long enough to put mascara on and they grow a little bit longer every day. I have eyebrows again, albeit thin ones, but the combination of brows and lashes means that I have been using less dramatic eye makeup lately and that feels great and so normal.

The hair on my head is still growing, of course. Not fast enough for me, but fast enough that my family has been amazed every time they have seen it over the past couple of weeks. I no longer need to keep my head covered in the house for warmth, though I still have to wear double layers on my head when I go outside. I might actually have to comb it soon, and I can’t wait.

The hair on my head is not the only hair that is growing, either. All the other hair is coming back. I even shaved my legs the other day. These seem like such small things, I know, but they make me feel like a girl and I’ve missed feeling that way.