Life's a Beach

Well, I did it.

I tried on my tankini. You can call me Rihanna because "I like it, like it..." so come on, let's go to the beach. 

Take me to sweet sunshine of Lake Michigan and let me embrace the city skyline painted on a pastel blue. I could care less about her teenie-weenie-yellow-polka-dot-bikini because frankly she doesn't look that good in it.  I'm rocking a one piece (swim suit) and a two piece (pouching system) at the same time. Yep.

When I was 16, I was in the hospital for 6 weeks because of some severe health issues due to Crohn's disease. I met an amazing woman through a family friend named, Maeve. She also had Crohn's and she quickly became my mentor and hero. Though Maeve was dealing with her own health struggles, she gave so much of her time, prayers, and homemade chicken soup to help me get through one of the most difficult periods of my life.  There was one day in the hospital where I was in really poor spirits. My i.v. wasn't working, the meds weren't working, and the medical clowns who were working the floor, insisted on visiting to "cheer me up"... again...(For love of gelatin, nurse, don't send in the clowns.)

I felt pessimistic and upset. Maeve came in and right away she could sense I was defeated. She shut the door and said, "Katie, you can cry if you want to." She had me at "you can" because tears immediately started flooding. After a ten minute pity party of good crying, we took a deep breathe and then we wrote this prayer. Maeve told me that whenever I wanted to give up, that I should say this prayer and God would help me get through whatever moment I was struggling with.  I know that I have this prayer in a drawer somewhere but the part I remember vividly was about going to the beach. "God, please bring me to the day where I can go to the beach and not worry about finding a bathroom and let me just enjoy the day with my friends and family."

Well, it took me almost ten years but God did answer my prayers. I get to go to the beach this summer and there's no room in the cooler for a single worry. The bathing suit is packed, the sandals are at the door, and there is a bright orange beach chair with my name on it. Lake Michigan is no ocean but sometimes on clear days you act naive and imagine it is. So I have to close with lyrics to the number one song on my iPod beach mix. For the first time in my life, is actually resonates with what the summer will be:

"We spotted the ocean at the head of the trail
where are we going, so far away
and somebody told me that this is the place
where everything's better, everything's safe.""Walk on the Ocean" by Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Necessary Objects

Recently I have been thinking a lot about sunglasses.

Specifically, a pair of Ray-Ban Classic Wayfarer Sunglasses - Tortoise with Green Lens. They are sort of a summer staple around the Chicago area. Just walk down Diversey Parkway on a sunny, Saturday and you'll find plenty of sophisticated Lincoln Park trixies sporting a pair of sweet shades. (Too much alliteration there? Super.)

I have been keeping my eye on everything from BlueFly to Groupon for some sort of coupon that will give me monetary motivation to actually purchase this eyewear I have been idolizing. However, I am trying to keep my current spending to stictly essential items: Pinot Grigio, Lean Cuisines, gasoline, and ostomy supplies.

A year ago, I never could have told you what a two-piece pouching system was or even attempted to guess what Adapt paste or a barrier ring was. (Altough it sounds like Barrier Reef which is someplace I imagine snorkeling, which I imagine I would need a boat to get to, thus requiring a pair of sunglasses...but I digress.)

These days my monthly UPS package of Hollister ostomy supplies has become like Christmas in July.  1" Wafers, pouches, curved scissors, and stoma sizing tools are quite simply the most overused adjective in the English language...amazing. They have allowed me so much freedom to go and just soak in the sunshine of a beautiful day, enjoy a dinner date with my fiance, commute to work without anxiety, and just LIVE! So who knows? Maybe this payday I'll put aside some cash towards a pair of summertime specs. Because you know what? My future is looking pretty bright.