Today at the Princeton Arts Center I saw a performance of Jenny Allen in her one women show I Got Sick Then I Got Better. The show was presented by the Arts Center and the Teal Tea Foundation as a fundraiser for Ovarian Cancer research.
Jenny Allen is an ovarian cancer survivor, writer and stand-up comedian. She shared her journey with the disease in a way that made the audience laugh (wearing paper gowns for exams makes one feel like they are part of an origami exhibit) , shake our head in agreement ( neuropathy makes your legs feel like they have been frozen and are slowly, painfully defrosting) and tear-up ( worrying about our daughters risk for the disease) .
I was sitting with the wonderful ladies from the Gynecological Cancer Support Group at CINJ. During Jenny's monologue we often turned and looked at each other knowing we had discussed what she was mentioning or had the same emotions. She had a wonderful way of describing the anxiety of waiting and the fear of a recurrence. We laughed with her when she went through peoples reaction to how she looked during chemotherapy and her raw food experience. At the end of the show we all said how she should attend our group - we are like her show - we share our thoughts and feelings and laugh- a lot. We also will think of her the next time we roll our doctor's stool around the examining room. Which, believe it or not, we have all done - at least once already.
After the show we went to The Alchemist and Barrister for lunch. It is right down the street from the Arts Center. As we ate we kept coming up with more funny lines from the show.
I highly recommend you get tickets to see Jenny Allen if she is performing in your area.
Dee
Every Day is a blessing! I am blessed by the friendship of the women in my support group.
1 comment:
Dear Dee, I just read your blog, thanks to my daughter Halley, who sent it to me. I wanted to thank you so much for coming to the show, and for your kind words. They mean so much to me. I hope you are feeling well, and I hope you will put me on your email list! xxx, jenny (Allen)
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