A heartfelt, but not original, gesture

The news was abuzz yesterday with a story about the elder President George Bush, now 89. He shaved his head in sympathy with the 2-year-old, the son of a Secret Service agent in his security detail, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia. The President and Barbara had lost their second child, four year old Robin, to leukemia nearly sixty years ago.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/elder-bush-shows-support-for-leukemia-patient/?emc=eta1

This heartwarming act is not a new idea. Folksinger David Roth sang about a similar incident in “Manuel Garcia” on his 1993 album, “Rising in Love.” This incredibly moving piece, based on a true story and sung a cappella, tells the tale of a young man diagnosed with stomach cancer whose friends shaved their heads in a show of solidarity and support.

Although I never became completely bald, I had a large bald patch on the top of my head where it was shaved for the biopsy, and a great deal of my hair fell out from the chemotherapy, leaving me with a very sparse mane. It still has not grown back entirely, although it has been many months since I felt the need to wear a hat when I leave the house.

But I would have been absolutely horrified if my friends or, worse, my daughters, had cut their hair or worse, shaved their heads in sympathy! And that got me to thinking: as much as I believe in equality of the sexes, there are just some ways in which we fundamentally differ that can be neither denied nor ignored. Maybe that is why it is called the “Equal Rights Amendment;” it is not that men and women are identical human beings, it is that we deserve to have the same opportunities to achieve our dreams. While biology should not completely dictate destiny, it may be a bit naïve to think that it has no impact whatsoever in the lives we lead. All we – both men and women - seek is the chance to each find our own way on this journey.

I am writing this from a hotel in Bethesda, MD, where Barry is attending a meeting. We will be returning to New York tomorrow for the weekend. And next Tuesday we will be paying a visit to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for follow-up scans. Keep the good thoughts coming.

Love,

Rebecca