And I'm not talking about the tiny half-moon scar on my knee that I acquired when I was eight, racing a big red wooden wagon down the sidewalk, careening around a corner, tipping, squalling, listening to Mama's "Didn't I tell you?" No story there.
No, I'm talking about the long unsightly scar that you've never seen unless you caught me in a skimpy bikini. That scar.
Here's the story.
It's 1959. I've taken my 22-year-old body (straight hair, big ears) to Iowa to visit "Pat," my brightest girl friend. My menstrual periods had stopped; I was certain I was pregnant. I hoped she might know what to do.
She did. When we left the doctor's office, I was both relieved and scared. Relieved I wasn't pregnant, but scared to learn I had a tumor about the size of a grapefruit riding on an ovary.
Home I headed, wondering how in the world I could explain to my father how I discovered that tumor without mentioning my halted periods, my suspicion of pregnancy. Either I succeeded or he was kind.
"You have two choices," he said. "You can go, by yourself, to Rochester's Mayo Clinic and have that tumor removed by an excellent surgeon. Or you can have it removed by a doctor here in Lincoln. Your Mom and me will keep you company."
I chose the butcher in Lincoln, Nebraska. Why? Maybe I didn't think I deserved a Mayo surgeon. Maybe I was scared. More likely I thought Dad wanted, from the way he expressed his two choices, me to stay at home.
The butcher successfully removed the nonmalignant tumor without sacrificing my ovary. But he left an awesome scar: eight inches long, an inch wide at its widest point, bifurcating my belly.
"Caesarian," I tell my lovers, and let it go at that.
And you? How did you get your scar?
from: a JoLt of CoFFeY
An Intermittent Newsletter
by Marilyn June Coffey
"BitterSweet Rebel"
some BitterSweet books
written by Marilyn June Coffey
MAIL-ORDER KID: An Orphan Train Rider's Story www.mail-orderkid.net
MARCELLA: A NOVEL To be reprinted Fall 2012.
GREAT PLAINS PATCHWORK: A Memoir
MARCELLA and GREAT PLAINS PATCHWORK are out of print
but can sometimes be bought from Amazon or other on-line book dealers.
A CRETAN CYCLE: Fragments unearthed from Knossos is a rare book.
To buy it, search eBay or other on-line book dealers.
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