October '16 Featured Interview |
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Interview with
Maureen Hogan Lutz
Author and Founder of Necessities Bag™
About Maureen:
For Maureen, writing is a personal retreat from the ups and downs of everyday life. After surviving breast cancer in 2005, she used her experience to form a non-profit organization in support of mastectomy patients. The Necessities Bag™ program provides information and post-surgical supplies free of charge to nearly one thousand women annually. The valuable resources provided include the Woman to Woman Guide to Prepare for Mastectomy. In her book Diamonds in the Snow: Rescuing the Senses in the Aftermath of Breast Cancer, Maureen addresses post-cancer challenges. She is also the author of Chasing Cassatt (Pendulum Communications), The Christmas
Umbrella (a novella) and several short stories. Maureen has been keynote speaker at luncheons, community group gatherings, special events, hospital conferences and university workshops. In 2007, The View (ABC talk show) featured Maureen as one of the “Warriors of the Week” during a series recognizing those who had made an extraordinary effort to help women battling breast cancer. She is also a member of Sanctuary's Advisory Board.
Nancy Burger, Director, Mindful Living & Outreach, talked with Maureen about dealing with challenges, finding inner balance and what drew her to SANCTUARY.
What experiences have given you the ability to deal with life's challenges?
I think it's a result of my upbringing - where I was brought up and how I was brought up. I'm from a long line of women who faced tremendous challenges. My grandmother came here from Italy when she was five years old, entered an arranged marriage very young, and was widowed at age 35 with six children (the youngest was only a year old). My mother faced struggles as well. At nine years old, she was incorrectly "marked" as a child at risk for tuberculosis (my grandfather had died of pneumonia) and had to sit in a "fresh air classroom" where all the windows were kept open, isolated from most of the other students and bundled up in the winter months. My father died at 51 during heart surgery, and my mom was widowed and left with my three siblings and me. She learned to drive at age 52 and worked until she was 75. How could I have become anything but a strong woman?
Where did you grow up?
In Queens. Since both of our parents worked, we were basically on our own. I was part of the baby boomer generation - my grammar school class had between 80 and 100 students. Can you imagine that today? They had to build two new high schools just to handle the influx. At 14 years old, I was traveling alone on the 'A' train from Queens to my school in Brooklyn.
So, when you got breast cancer, you figured out a way to not only conquer it but also make something good come out of it for other women?
I was shocked when I found out I had breast cancer, but I didn't fall apart. I did what I had to do, and once I knew I would come out of it okay I wanted to help other women. That's why I started Necessities. I wasn't going to sit in a support group and compare notes on diagnosis, pills or treatments. Like I always tell my kids (Kristen, 40 and Peter, 42), 'don't spend any time on negative energy. It gets you nowhere.' I believe you have to find things that move you forward, that enrich you.
How do you handle negativity when you are faced with it?
Sometimes you have to deal with people that are a drag on you. You can't avoid them all. My philosophy is that you should put them in the 'balcony' of your mind. They're there, and you have to interact with them from time to time, but they're not front and center. I've really never let anything get to me except the loss of my father. I had just been married two months before, and it came very suddenly. I felt defeated and devastated, and I still have an ache in my heart from that.
What drew you to Sanctuary?
First of all, I love the name. Everyone needs a comfort zone, a safe place full of positive energy. For me, it's my garden. For a lot of people, it's church (in a Catholic church, the altar area is called the sanctuary). I think women are ready to hear the things that you're sharing with them. If you can create a place where they can find comfort, rejuvenation, balance and inner peace, they'll want to be part of that community. I came from a generation where women didn't have a lot of options. They need a safe place to say what they want to say.
What else would you like to share about yourself with the Sanctuary community?
I believe we have to do things to move ahead, to find fulfillment and to keep our spirits from crashing. For me, life is about taking things one day at a time, finding joy, seeing things as they are and knowing when to pull away from negativity.
When I was twenty years old, I worked for TWA as an administrative assistant. On a flight from Ohio to La Guardia, the plane missed the runway and the landing gear was damaged. We were rerouted to JFK for an emergency landing (because the runways there were longer and gave the pilot more room to maneuver). So the way I look at it, I survived a plane crash at twenty and breast cancer at fifty-seven. In between, I lived life. I plan to continue.
For Maureen, writing is a personal retreat from the ups and downs of everyday life. After surviving breast cancer in 2005, she used her experience to form a non-profit organization in support of mastectomy patients. The Necessities Bag™ program provides information and post-surgical supplies free of charge to nearly one thousand women annually. The valuable resources provided include the Woman to Woman Guide to Prepare for Mastectomy. In her book Diamonds in the Snow: Rescuing the Senses in the Aftermath of Breast Cancer, Maureen addresses post-cancer challenges. She is also the author of Chasing Cassatt (Pendulum Communications), The Christmas
Umbrella (a novella) and several short stories. Maureen has been keynote speaker at luncheons, community group gatherings, special events, hospital conferences and university workshops. In 2007, The View (ABC talk show) featured Maureen as one of the “Warriors of the Week” during a series recognizing those who had made an extraordinary effort to help women battling breast cancer. She is also a member of Sanctuary's Advisory Board.
Nancy Burger, Director, Mindful Living & Outreach, talked with Maureen about dealing with challenges, finding inner balance and what drew her to SANCTUARY.
What experiences have given you the ability to deal with life's challenges?
I think it's a result of my upbringing - where I was brought up and how I was brought up. I'm from a long line of women who faced tremendous challenges. My grandmother came here from Italy when she was five years old, entered an arranged marriage very young, and was widowed at age 35 with six children (the youngest was only a year old). My mother faced struggles as well. At nine years old, she was incorrectly "marked" as a child at risk for tuberculosis (my grandfather had died of pneumonia) and had to sit in a "fresh air classroom" where all the windows were kept open, isolated from most of the other students and bundled up in the winter months. My father died at 51 during heart surgery, and my mom was widowed and left with my three siblings and me. She learned to drive at age 52 and worked until she was 75. How could I have become anything but a strong woman?
Where did you grow up?
In Queens. Since both of our parents worked, we were basically on our own. I was part of the baby boomer generation - my grammar school class had between 80 and 100 students. Can you imagine that today? They had to build two new high schools just to handle the influx. At 14 years old, I was traveling alone on the 'A' train from Queens to my school in Brooklyn.
So, when you got breast cancer, you figured out a way to not only conquer it but also make something good come out of it for other women?
I was shocked when I found out I had breast cancer, but I didn't fall apart. I did what I had to do, and once I knew I would come out of it okay I wanted to help other women. That's why I started Necessities. I wasn't going to sit in a support group and compare notes on diagnosis, pills or treatments. Like I always tell my kids (Kristen, 40 and Peter, 42), 'don't spend any time on negative energy. It gets you nowhere.' I believe you have to find things that move you forward, that enrich you.
How do you handle negativity when you are faced with it?
Sometimes you have to deal with people that are a drag on you. You can't avoid them all. My philosophy is that you should put them in the 'balcony' of your mind. They're there, and you have to interact with them from time to time, but they're not front and center. I've really never let anything get to me except the loss of my father. I had just been married two months before, and it came very suddenly. I felt defeated and devastated, and I still have an ache in my heart from that.
What drew you to Sanctuary?
First of all, I love the name. Everyone needs a comfort zone, a safe place full of positive energy. For me, it's my garden. For a lot of people, it's church (in a Catholic church, the altar area is called the sanctuary). I think women are ready to hear the things that you're sharing with them. If you can create a place where they can find comfort, rejuvenation, balance and inner peace, they'll want to be part of that community. I came from a generation where women didn't have a lot of options. They need a safe place to say what they want to say.
What else would you like to share about yourself with the Sanctuary community?
I believe we have to do things to move ahead, to find fulfillment and to keep our spirits from crashing. For me, life is about taking things one day at a time, finding joy, seeing things as they are and knowing when to pull away from negativity.
When I was twenty years old, I worked for TWA as an administrative assistant. On a flight from Ohio to La Guardia, the plane missed the runway and the landing gear was damaged. We were rerouted to JFK for an emergency landing (because the runways there were longer and gave the pilot more room to maneuver). So the way I look at it, I survived a plane crash at twenty and breast cancer at fifty-seven. In between, I lived life. I plan to continue.
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