Whale or Mermaid?

My sister sent me an e-mail of a story of a woman in France who when she went to the gym found a poster with a young, thin and tan woman in the window. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?" A middle aged woman, who didn't look like the woman on the poster responded publicly to this question. She then goes on to tell the difference between a whale and a mermaid. Whales are surrounded by friends, dolphins, sea lions, and curious humans. They play and swim in the seas and they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world. On the other hand Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would have to go to the shrink to find out if they are fish or human. They can't have children and who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? Anyway, I have decided that I want to be a whale. "The media puts it into our heads that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grand kids, a good dinner with my husband, and a piece of chocolate with my friends." (okay, a pound of See's).
A few years ago after I tried diet pills, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, not to mention starving and B-12 shots, I decided I was going to have lap band surgery. I made an appointment with the surgeon and went on a trip I would soon regret. After having the pre-surgery blood work, colonoscopy, endoscopy, mammogram, pap smear, liver scan and heart stress test, I was able to go to step three which was the diet. For two weeks all I could have was chicken breast, broth and protein shakes. I became so sick with diarrhea and was so light headed I couldn't even put a full sentence together, so they let me add vegetables and salads. Anyway, after those two weeks I became so depressed I was hoping I would get hit by a truck. Truly, I was two days away from surgery and they told me I would have to take fifteen 500 mg. of antibiotics the day before surgery and give myself shots in the stomach of heparin so I didn't have a blood clot after surgery. I remember walking around with a black cloud hanging over me. I have a good friend who came over to color my hair. She took one look at me and said, "Are you sure you want to go through with this surgery?" I then began to cry and told her what I was feeling and how I would rather die than have surgery. We also didn't have insurance so Rich was paying cash for all these tests and for my procedure. Anyway, I called my Dad and told him I needed some help. I asked him to give me a blessing that I would know what I should do. He gave me a very simple blessing of love and told me that through "inspiration," I would know what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I was so confused now. I realized that I had done all the preparation and Rich had spent so much money to get me to this point and was I just scared? Anyway, the next day was Sunday and I decided that even though I was a mess I would still go to church. During the Relief Society lesson, I still remember who was teaching, this feeling came over me that I should NOT have the surgery. It was that simple, no whistles, bells, balloons or anything else, just a warm feeling that at this time I should not have this surgery. I can't explain the relief I felt, I knew in my heart that my prayers had been answered and I knew it would be hard to call the surgeon and tell them I changed my mind. I know there were members of my family who were disappointed in my decision and didn't understand the "hell" I had been through, but I was true to the answer I had received that day. I know that being overweight isn't healthy but since then I have wondered why? Was it because Heavenly Father knew Kamber was going to pass away and I was going to be needed to help? Maybe something would have happened. I don't know the reason but maybe some day I will. At the end of this little story about the whale and the mermaid she says, "With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today,when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, " Good grief, look how smart I am!" I thought this was a cute little story. It made me laugh, and Rich even got a little chuckle out of it. I would like to be a mermaid, but I will have to make the most of being a whale.