The Issue

“Never Give Power to Illness”  Photographed by Imani Ogden  Tell us about your book “My Four Season” ? Actually the book unfolds from my personal journal, which I started writing as a kid documenting memories, feelings, experiences, etc. Once an adult, and given a sudden and unexpected breast cancer diagnosis, I decided to transform the diary into a structured narration I could potentially share with family, friends and anyone in search for a testimony with which they could identify and draw learning for their own benefit. For instance in the book I depict the importance of the “coincidences” or “signs” life flashes right in front our eyes, but sometimes we ignore; like the time when someone gave me a business card of a surgeon, to which I paid zero attention to and misplaced it in some drawer, and who more than a year later, ended up being the one person who resolved my reconstruction ordeal. What is the meaning behind your book title? The title derives from the number 4, which has been present in my life a lot! We are four sisters, four very close friends, and my family nucleus also consists of my two kids, my husband, and myself. I basically associated each season with the personality of the people in my life, with the understanding that all seasons are necessary, they each bring their unique contribution to our existence, and complement each other. Additionally, in line with what I told you earlier about my dad exposing me to all the classical masterpieces, I love Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, so this music accompanied me as inspiration while I wrote the book. Why did you decide to write the memoir? Well, when suddenly we are faced with a diagnosis of a death sentence,I think those are the moments we put everything else into perspective. My kids were quite small back then, I wasn’t sure for how long I would be around. I felt this urge to leave primarily to my kids, some kind of written record about my background, the life lessons centered in the importance of giving and receiving love, the moral values my parents had taught me, the anecdotic stories about family, friends, my work environment, plus of course dedicating a couple of chapters specifically to how I faced the illness, which I am still battling as we speak. What is your advice to other women or men who are going through the same thing you are? My advice is to never give power to the illness. Our mind and emotions have to be focused at forming a vision of ourselves in perfect health. No matter what the medical reports say, we must learn to change the channel and stop the chatterbox in our brain that distracts us from our purpose. Yes, we must listen and respect our doctors’ recommendations, and bless them every day for the wonderful work they do. But we have our own role to play in the healing process, we must take ownership of it, by choosing our thoughts well, as these manifest in our life; and focusing on the people we love, on doing the things we treasure, in living our present as a gift, and in enjoying as much as possible each instant of our day-to-day (listen to my song “Vive Hoy”). I tried to ensure I would continue pursuing my dreams and personal projects with the same enthusiasm as always, regardless of the hardship I was facing, which kept me grounded and motivated. How long have you been writing music? Well as a kid, probably about 8 yearsold, I first started to role-play a game as if I had my own radio show, wow, I had such a blast! I would spend literally hours in my room, recording shows, where I played all the roles: the interviewer, the guest interviewee, the artist who had to sing, I even acted the commercial breaks!! So primarily motivated by my dad who would hear me sing in my room (OMG attempting to imitate so many famous artists!) he said “Dani, you love to write, you love music, you like to sing, you have a great ear, why don’t you start writing songs” ? My dad was that kind of person that even if you were not that great, he would make you feel great! So that is when, while other kids were playing in the park, I was sitting at home with my dad learning the names of the classical concerts, or identifying the instruments being performed by an orchestra!! Gradually he taught me to appreciate music in all of its forms, and pushed me to express myself through it, first by writing the lyrics, and then by creating a melody that would properly fit into the feeling I wished to convey. I studied piano for a couple of years, and then for the turns of life, I ended up with a degree in Business and pursuing a corporate career which I enjoyed; but once faced with the cancer episode, I decided to awaken my creative right-brain, and as continuation to the book, I began developing a multi-genre repertoire of inspirational prototypes consisting of both lyrics and melodies, that later I produced with a superb team, under the baton of a good friend and musician Carlos Escalona and of course, with the vocal grandeur of my talented nephew Johnny Sigal. What inspired you to write and sing “Stand Up”, one of the songs in Johnny Sigal’s new album Testimonio? The song Stand Up, I wrote inspired by a few other cancer patients I met during my chemo treatments, some which unfortunately lost the battle. It represents for me a hymn to life, a chant to motivate mankind to taking a more proactive role in being kinder to each other, in identifying ways to help and be a positive role model that our youth can emulate. It is a tribute in praise of our human nature, which is meant to shed light and love as much as we