Nelie, I hear ya ... I have some scars from previous trials of life, but none of them worry me ... Not near as many as many of you all but that is okay, I do not mind that I am behind on this one (smiles) ...

A few years ago a good friend of mine battled breast cancer. They showed up to visit and her husband told me before she came out "wait until you see her cute lil bald head" !!! I was like "WHAT!?" as I had not yet heard she had cancer ...

She came out and I had to admit she was the cutest gal with a bald head I had seen and she wore it with no worries and did not wear a hat or scarf unless we went out to dinner.

This surprised me as I had known her since I was 15 and she had always been one to worry about her looks, esp her hair and makeup and each week at church you would wonder what color or style her hair would be this time .. and here she was bald with no worries seemingly.

When I told her how I admired that in her and hoped that I would have the same courage should I ever face that in my life, she said "" Hey, I am fighting for my life - no hair is the least of my worries and I don't care who knows it. ""

That has always stuck with me... and spoke volumes to me about her courage... she became a hero of mine that day.

I so admire people who can be 'real' even when facing adversity and people who look inward, not outward, for strength and identity.

I look around this forum, filled with people helping people like me who are new to this and scared and all I see are a bunch of beautiful people!