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There She is...Miss America!

© Sue Barton

There She is...Miss America!
Every year, from the time of Bert Parks until now, my family and I tune in to watch the Miss America Pageant. We always root for the young ladies from the northwest, and our hopes are always dashed by some terrific woman from California, New York, or Florida. But not this year! From the first group of 20 finalists, to the swimsuit and evening gown competitions; from the extemporaneous speaking and pop quiz to the talent segment where Miss Oregon, Katie Harman sang a beautiful Puccinni aria, our loyalty was rewarded as we watched the crown being placed upon her head by the outgoing Miss America.

So who is Katie Harman, and where is she from? Katie is a 21-year old Speech Communications and Bioethics major at Portland State University. Katie seems to have it all. She's bright, fit, talented, and very well-spoken. She defended Oregon as a state dedicated to the environment, carries a bottle of water with her everywhere, and easily answered 8 of 10 civics questions in the pop quiz. What a terrific representative she'll be for this organization!

Katie hales from Gresham, Oregon, the fourth largest city in the state, located just minutes east of Portland. Gresham is one of my favorite Oregon cities for several reasons (not the least of which is the Dunkin Doughnut shop that we stop at on our way to and from our homes in Central Oregon and Western Washington.) My husband's aunt and cousins live in Gresham and when "Mr. Holland's Opus" was filmed there several years ago, young cousin Jennifer was featured as a member of the drill team! It is home to Mt. Hood Community College and the beautiful snow-capped peak of Mt. Hood dominates the landscape.

The only piece of the Katie Harman picture that puzzles me is her platform. A Bioethics major, she will be advocating for the rights of terminal breast cancer patients to be fully informed about the seriousness of their conditions. "It's very important that terminal patients deal with their diagnosis on their own timeline," she said. I'm surprised to hear that there are doctors withholding this information.

Unless things have changed dramatically in the last ten years, this sure wasn't an issue for me, my mom, my husband's mom, or my brother's mother-in-law. I'll never forget the harsh reality of the late night phone call from my family physician, as she read from some text or medical journal about my slim chances for survival and her admonition to prepare myself and my family since I probably wouldn't live to see my young son grow up. Nor will I forget the pronouncement from my oncologist that he'd try to buy me some time. I won't even forget the brutal, starkness from my surgeon whose cold bedside manner only heightened my feelings of guilt as he told me that it was my fault for not coming in sooner.