Brenda is half my size. And we lifted together every so often. It was hard on my ego as Brenda outlifted and outlasted me at everything in the gym. Strong. Strong muscles. Strong in her emotional core. Strong in the heart. We started this photo shoot with a purple scarf and a t-shirt. And soon I could see the stubble on her head and a body doing its best to keep it together during chemo. She looked at the camera as if to say, "What, you gotta problem with this?" And I didn't.

Stripping down our exterior to this kind of beauty reminds us of where beauty really comes from.