Hitting kind of close to home.

I am not sure how popular the show Parenthood, on NBC, is but it is definitely a little difficult to watch right now. I love the show for a lot of reasons, it depicts a large family all still close and connected in their daily lives, 4 siblings, the grandparents, and the cousins. One of the siblings and his wife are dealing with a child with aspergers. From my experience on the subject the way he is represented is very true to real life. It shows the daily struggles of having a child with a disability. More recently it showed a child going off to college and how that affects the whole family. I remember leaving my parents on that day at JMU and it seems they probably had it worse than I did. I thought I was sad to leave them, but seeing it from the parent's perspective allows me to realize how hard it is let a child go. There are a lot of real life issues which I appreciate and couple that with some great actors and it has become one of my go-to shows. The one I search for in the DVR to watch first amongst a long list of recorded shows. But now...it is getting very real...maybe a little too real for me. Christina, one of the main characters (One child just left for college, one has aspergers, and she just had a baby) has breast cancer. Last week, they touched on it a bit but at the end didn't really come out and say that she did have breast cancer. This week it was revealed that she does in fact have breast cancer. It shows her sitting at the Dr.'s office with all the women with no hair, waiting, crying, re-searching online, trying to be strong, breaking down, and going through all the emotions that a woman with BC goes through. I know this all too well because it wasn't too long ago that I was going through these same things with my own mom.

In fact, if it weren't for my mom having BC I never would have known that I was at risk. There is little to no breast cancer in my family (my mom has all brothers). Growing up, I knew that mom mom had a few lumps removed and biopsied but it never affected me and my worry about my own future. I was living the good life assuming it was "other" people who were affected by BC until Nov. 4th, 2011. Then it got real. Now, it isn't just my mom. It is me facing this process. Christina on the show just had a baby, which means she is relatively young (older than me but still younger). I wonder if she has BRCA? Is that where they are going with this? Will she be faced with the same things as I am faced with?

I don't know where it will go but though it is painful to watch, I need to see it. I needed that reassurance that what I have decided to do is the right thing. I don't want to be sitting in a waiting room in a few years with women with no hair all wearing pink. I like pink but I do not want my life defined by it. So, thank you Parenthood. You gave me the extra sign that I needed.