Ever since I got diagnosed, whenever I think of the word “cancer,” I say it in my head in an exaggerated whisper: “caaaancer.” This is because, although I generally remember very little of the movie St. Elmo’s Fire, for some reason I vividly remember the scene where the mousy character, dating Rob Lowe, has him over for a family dinner, and warns Lowe that her mother won’t say unfortunate things out loud. Later, when the mother mentions cancer, she whispers it. For some reason this scene has stuck with me, and the word will forever be whispered in my head.

A fellow cancer compadre of mine recently told me her mother-in-law does something similar, which inspired me to finally dredge up the clip on YouTube. Enjoy.