Catherine Is in Remission

An encouraging update from the Princess of Wales.

Hello from Los Angeles, where we are all bracing for a new round of strong winds. Our family returned home when school reopened. I have now unpacked and repacked, anxiously checking the forecast too often than I care to admit.

What Do You Pack When It’s Time to Evacuate?

If you are looking for ways to help: Many groups are at max capacity with physical donations but money is always welcome. Some organizations to consider (and please check if your job offers corporate matching!):

• Chef José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen (a longtime partner of the Archewell Foundation, providing meals)

• The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles (housing)

• Pasadena Humane (animals)

• Mutual Aid Los Angeles (including this continuously updated spreadsheet of resources)

• Project Camp (trauma-informed childcare)

• LAFD Wildfire Emergency Funding Alert (equipment for those battling the fires)

• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (support for immigrant workers)

Looking for a GoFundMe? This spreadsheet is a directory of Black displaced families in Altadena. And if you are in Los Angeles, the New York Times is reminding everyone to mask up given the unknowns about the air quality.

Pardon the pivot, but there was some encouraging news across the pond today: Catherine is in remission. On Tuesday, the Princess of Wales visited Royal Marsden Hospital in west London, where she received treatment for cancer last year. She visited with patients, as well as an adorable therapy dog, and later released a statement sharing her health update. “I remain focussed on recovery,” Catherine wrote. “There is much to look forward to.”

This news felt like a bookend, nearly a year in the making. My thoughts raced back to that initial announcement of her abdominal surgery and the subsequent, out-of-control internet speculation over her whereabouts, then to the photo editing debacle and her video announcing her cancer. It made news of her remission particularly heartening. Below, I wanted to revisit that journey, along with links to my earlier coverage. Keep scrolling for my favorite series of photos from today. Take care, friends.

Note: If you are a cancer patient who has experienced remission and you would be willing to share with the SMT community (akin to this newsletter) or if you are a writer interested in penning a guest essay about remission, please send me a note: Hello@SoManyThoughts.com.

Cancer Patients Reframe the Idea of ‘Looking Sick’

A Timeline of Catherine’s Cancer Journey

(Photos throughout via Getty Images)