Big Earrings, Scarves & Plenty of Pink

Written by Terri McLean: In June of last year, our former neighbor in Midway and Alex’s summer babysitter, Amanda Forman Hale, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Exactly two weeks later, the 37-year-old mother of two young children had a double mastectomy with 13 lymph nodes removed. And then the chemo, with all its effects, began.

Today, just over a year later, I’m so happy to say that Amanda – beautiful on both the inside and out – is living life happy and well. While her life has been impacted greatly, you would never know it from looking at her or talking to her. She has the most unbelievably positive attitude and the most profound gratitude of anyone I’ve ever known. Those who followed Amanda’s journey on www.caringbridge.com read over and over again about her devotion to faith, family, and friends and her belief that no matter what life threw her way, she would always consider herself truly blessed. Amazing!

In talking with Amanda and her sister Erin Forman Endicott, I discovered that Amanda determined early on that she would not let chemotherapy get her down. One way she did that was to seek out the Look Good Feel Better program, which is dedicated to improving the self-esteem and quality of life of people battling cancer. The program provides free makeover learning sessions in communities all over the country.

One of the first things Amanda learned to do to “look good, feel better,” especially after losing her hair, was to wear scarves (to cover up what her family calls naked heads) and big earrings. And that’s exactly what she did … and then some. As Erin put it, she “embraced” scarves and big earrings in a big way.

So did her co-workers at The Lexington School. When Amanda returned to work after losing her hair, each and everyone – men included – greeted her wearing scarves and big earrings. No wonder she feels so blessed, having that kind of support not only from her wonderful family but from others who know her and love her, too! I feel so honored to tell just a small part of Amanda’s story and to turn the spotlight on this inspiring – and BEAUTIFUL – young woman. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired by her story as well.