"It was a fine cancer experience, as cancer experiences go," said Sweeney to USA Today in 2002. When she received the results as part of the annual set of gynecological tests women get, she was already acting as caretaker and witness to her brother's own extreme suffering, a battle that led to his succumbing to a long-undiagnosed, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Raised a devout Catholic, Julia's "Letting Go of God" monologue lasts more than two hours and chronicles her journey from deep belief to skepticism. It's more a spritual and intellectual memoir than a medical narrative. But clearly her medical experiences as caretaker and patient had great influence. And yet hers is such a different response than most patients with a life-threatening illness.
"I was starting to get nervous about my relationship with god," confesses Sweeney during her one-woman-show-turned-movie in 2008. "I felt like we were this married couple in trouble just trying to find some common ground."
As always, my purpose in this blog is not to judge; it's simply to muse. Julia has since turned her attention toward educating women about cervical cancer, and adopting a child. She also still acts, speaks and even blogs. While her persona today evokes a person far removed from her crazy Saturday Night Live characters, the important thing is, she lives. And she's still funny as all get-out.
On March 9, 2010 Julia blogged that she planned to "hang up her mouth." I expect it's both brave and exhausting to share this much of your mind and body with so many people, and for so long. Personally, I admire her courage to make her internal life known for the benefit of others (whether for purposes of education or laughter). And I also respect her choice to reinstate her personal privacy. Read her post.
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