Driver's License Renewal means a new Photo

My birthday is next week. Three days after chemo, which kinda sucks, but at least it's not the day of. But what that also means, every four years, is that I must renew my license in person and have a new photo taken.

I realized this when I received the paperwork in July, before I started chemo. I thought about it after round one. I was feeling good that second week and figured I should get it done, just in case I lost my hair. Remember, I wasn't really sure it was going to happen, and even if it did, I didn't know when. But I had thought it would be a good idea to renew my license that second week, the week of July 19th, just in case.

Trouble is, I didn't write it down on my list of things to do that week. I certainly would have had time, as Gaby was at Robbins Park every morning and there wasn't too much else planned. But the week passed, I still had my hair, and my license renewal was still pending.

That third week, exactly two weeks after my first chemo, the hair loss started. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, once it started, it came out fast. By the end of that week, when I again came across the renewal form, the week was too full to squeeze in a vist to the DMV. It was also the end of the month and it would have been busy. Really busy.

Mondays are our booked and busy days this summer, where I get Nick to his weekly allergy appointment and guitar lesson, as well as take care of food shopping and a couple of other weekly errands. It works well with the chemo schedule too, but didn't leave room that Monday before chemo round 2, to get that photo done.

Truthfully, by that time, there was little evidence of Annmarie's beautiful handiwork. The hair on the sides was still hanging on, but the hair on top thinned out quite fast over the weekend. Can you say male pattern baldness? I frightened and freaked out some people in my travels that day, wearing a regular baseball cap. Some didn't recognize me, some noticed the shorter hair and others seemed uncomfortable with the change.

I obviously wasn't visiting the DMV the week of round two. Last week I had decided that I would either visit or call, to see if I could postpone a new photo for several months. I had no idea what their policy was on head coverings and did no online research.

Well this week, Nary and I were trying to find a morning to get together for coffee. She mentioned she needed to get her license renewed. Now she's a September birthday, but since school starts again for her in just over a week, she wanted to get this taken care of before then.

Remember, I'm now dealing with some sort of conjunctivitis, so I'm unable to wear any sort of eye make up. Combine that with my new hairless look and it gives me a less than healthy, somewhat under the weather, appearance.

But that's not all. On Monday, when retrieving boxes from the front step, I imagined Roxi was approaching and swung around a bit too fast and off balance, to head her off. I caught a metal door stop type of device, with my nose, taking a chunk of skin and leaving an unsightly mark which is presently a lovely shade of navy with a hint of reddish purple.

I honestly feared it might be broken and iced it for a good while after. Gaby just shook her head, not quite getting how I had inflicted this upon myself. That made two of us. Of course my sister Linda wasn't surprised at all that my nose, of all things, got in the way.

So on Wednesday morning, I rushed back from mall walking, chose a fairly neutral scarf, made a futile attempt at eyeliner, and put some tinted clearasil on my nose, since I have no cover up. What a sight!

When we got to the DMV I took a number, to take my turn at asking the question about delaying the photo. Well it turns out that I could keep the scarf on, 'for medical reasons' and have the photo done that day. Trouble was, I hadn't paid for my renewal ahead of time, which would have meant I would have had the camera card in hand. Instead I had to take another number to wait for a different person to process my payment and prepare the camera card, then go back to that area to have the photo done.

I was a bit worried, since Nary's kids were at soccer camp that morning and we had to be done in time to pick them up. Now SHE had the camera card, and while I was asking my question, she was photographed and done.

We had to wait another 5 or 10 minutes before my number came up and I took my turn at the counter, cheque in hand, ready to pay. The woman processing the payment revealed that she was an 11 year cancer survivor, asked about where I was at in my treatment, and advised me to have a big party to celebrate the end of my treatments. Great advise, I'd say!

She also assured me I wouldn't have to take a third number to wait to have my photo done, but rather, would walk it over to someone who would make sure the photo could be done as is.

Well, the woman assigned to do the photograph, who appeared to be under cover of a wig, was in fact also celebrating the completion of chemotherapy for uterine cancer. She took her time, we exchanged stories, all the while going through the process of getting my new license. We agreed that this common experience we were in the midst of was enlightening. A good word that covers the education that comes with a cancer diagnosis. You learn about the process, you learn how very many people have and are going through the same thing, and you learn about how many skilled, caring and compassionate people work to get you through it. Enlightening, yes.

Now, she offered me a preview of the photo, as she did with my signature, before it was finalized. Not great. More like awful, but hey, it's a driver's license photo. My nose has a dark bruise and cut on one side, my eyes are void of make up and my head is covered with a scarf that I realized too late wasn't the best colour choice for this. A true DMV photo!

The woman who processed my payment, who suggested a party should be in my future, said that, while I didn't hear it from her, once my hair is back to a satisfactory length, I should come back in, pay the $12 fee and have the photo retaken. I just might do that.

In the meantime, I live with a classic DMV photo.

Nary's turned out much better than mine, but this is the best look you'll get of all of them.

With the holographs they use, I don't know how well it would scan, so even a scanned image might not reveal the true beauty that I could well have to live with for the next four years.