No Woman No Cry

I made it through scan day yesterday fairly easily. The bone scan wasn't bad at all and I knew what to expect from the MRI of the brain having had one before. The MRI was a different machine and my head was in the cage but it was tolerable. I almost laughed out loud near the end but controlled it. I had requested reggae as the music I listened to in order to counteract the clanging. Right when I thought I couldn't stand another minute on the narrow hard bed, Bob Marley's, "No woman no cry" began to play. When it got to "everything's gonna be alright" I had to control myself not to laugh at the perfect timing of that song. Ironically Bob Marley died from melanoma which metastasized to his brain, liver, lungs and stomach and who knows what would have happened if he'd been willing to have his toe amputated when he was first diagnosed. It certainly would have improved his prognosis. I didn't know that was what he died from until I was diagnosed with melanoma. I don't think it was talked about that much in the press or maybe I wasn't paying attention but I loved Bob Marley's music for a long time and was totally ignorant about the cause of his death and also ignorant about melanoma. I didn't have a clue that any skin cancer could spread to vital organs. Since I've mentioned "no woman no cry" I guess I should mention some of the other lyrics in that song like, "I remember when we used to sit In the government yard in trenchtown" or "Good friends we have, oh, good friends weve lost Along the way. In this great future, you cant forget your past; So dry your tears, I seh." It always drives me crazy how great songs get sanitized or the quoted lines skip the important part. Like Bob Marley's, "One Love, One Life" which is on travel commercials. You don't hear my favorite line in that song very often in the mass appeal places it crops up. "Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love) There is one question I'd really like to ask (One Heart) Is there a place for the hopeless sinner Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs? " Another song that is often sanitized is Woody Guthrie's "This land is your land". I learned that song in elementary school and I still have than elementary school song book. However, it left out some of Woody's best verses in that song which are: "As I went walking I saw a sign there And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." But on the other side it didn't say nothing, That side was made for you and me. In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, By the relief office I seen my people; As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?" I think it's important to remember the good and the bad of our history and take an honest look at our present. I guess I'll leave it there because I'm bordering on being political which isn't what I want to do here. Let's just say that I often wonder what I'd do if I didn't have adequate health care insurance through my job. I am very fortunate.