The experience of having photos with Galina was very therapeutic. I got a chance to try to embrace my new body after breast cancer took my left breast at age 38. I struggle every time I look in the mirror to try to accept my battle wound. The first time I looked at myself in the mirror, after my bandages were all gone, was traumatic. I was married to a cruel man who walked in on me while I was undressing in the mirror, trying to accept my scar. He made a noise as he saw me and at my most vulnerable moment, told me to “put that disgusting thing away” & said that I “wasn’t a woman any more”. I was devastated.
As a single woman, I tell men upfront that I am a breast cancer survivor and strangers make me feel beautiful. Scars are reminders that we fought whatever tried to kill us and survived. I’m so grateful, by God’s grace, that I have been granted a second life. A life that I embrace and awake smiling every day, no matter what. I am determined to spread positivity and love throughout the community. No one will ever dim my light again. I am sunshine. I am a survivor