Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 239

“My happiest memory was the first long road trip we took...

“My happiest memory was the first long road trip we took together. We drove to Nova Scotia. There were three of us—Ellen, me, and her son from a previous marriage. Our Volvo broke down and we had to wait three days for parts. It was pouring down rain the whole time, but we found a friendly fisherman who helped us forage for clams and lobster and seaweed. When we were lying in the tent at night, her son said to me: ‘I didn’t like you at first. But I like you now.’”

“Her mother had breast cancer so she had a mammogram every six...

“Her mother had breast cancer so she had a mammogram every six months. All of them came back clear. Then one morning a nodule just popped to the surface. We thought our dog had maybe jumped on her and caused a bruise. The doctor didn’t think a malignant tumor could grow that fast, but he did a biopsy anyway. He said he saw a ‘strange shadow.’ It turned out to be metaplastic cancer– meaning that the cells continually change and it’s almost impossible to treat. The survival rate was something like .05 percent. When I started to read the literature about it, I was crushed. I’m naturally a very cynical and pessimistic person. But I wanted to give her hope, so I did all the research I could. And I ended up giving myself hope as well.”

“I’m not trying to get into a deep conversation...

“I’m not trying to get into a deep conversation right now. I’m more paint and less talk.”

“I’ve been going through chemo for six months now. Sometimes...

“I’ve been going through chemo for six months now. Sometimes I’ll come home from the hospital and I won’t even want to look in the mirror. I feel disfigured. I’ll have drains attached to me that he has to help measure and adjust. We’ve been together for a long time. When something like this happens, you find out what you’ve been working for all those years.”

“I take secret iPhone photos of awkward situations so I...

“I take secret iPhone photos of awkward situations so I can paint them later.”

“This is tougher than the Marine Corps.”

“This is tougher than the Marine Corps.”

Today in microfashion…

Today in microfashion…

“I was an international relations major. I was thinking...

“I was an international relations major. I was thinking about going into government, but the more I learned about bureaucracy, the more I realized I’d be better off just writing political songs.”

“Sometimes we play a game called Bracelets. You put...

“Sometimes we play a game called Bracelets. You put pillows on the ground, sit on them, then play with bracelets.”

“I’m OK now, because we’re speaking in generalities, but if...

“I’m OK now, because we’re speaking in generalities, but if you were to ask me about anything specific, like names or dates, I wouldn’t be able to remember them. My mother had it too. It was ten years of her not knowing who anybody was. And I don’t want to be remembered like that. That’s why I’m sitting here alone. I used to have a lot of friends, but I’ve withdrawn from all of them. Group situations are especially hard because I can’t steer the conversation toward something I can remember. And when I do get stuck, it’s more embarrassing. So I’ve missed weddings. I’ve stopped returning calls. I do have one friend who won’t give up on me. He calls me from Florida. And if I’m trying to tell him about a bridge, he’ll list off every bridge in New York City until I remember the one that I’m trying to talk about.”