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About the Author


Coffee Shop Girl, by Christiaan Putter



Call me K[Kei], we can keep this informal. I was born in the wonderfully chaotic country of Bulgaria about 3 decades ago. My whole life has been about moving around countries like a Gypsy. At the age of 18 I packed all my possessions and called Germany my new home. We stayed together for 7 years, before my heart got stolen by the city of Barcelona, Spain. I also spent about 1½ in Ireland - one of the most lovable and carefree places on earth. After that I settled for a year and something on the north shores of Germany, in beautiful Hamburg. Yet the wish for more adventures didn't seize. I kept looking across the ocean over to New York, which I had visited on several occasions, and similar to Barcelona, it never left my dreams. We were finally united in February 2014 and since then I'm a proud "legal alien" (a creative term used by the visa authorities) in the city that never sleeps, slows down, smells nice or you “fuckin’ mess around with”.
Writing has been my companion since the age of 7, although I wouldn't call myself a writer. I've scribbled lots in my native language, I have attempted to conquer German, in the end, somehow, I gave in into the sweet lightness of the English language. So I’ve been abusing its grammar & sentence structure successfully since 1998, restlessly inventing new words and phrases that may make no sense to you.
The Breast Cancer diagnosis came not long after my 27th Birthday. I thought my entire world is going to end. Luckily it didn't. Owing to the support of many good people, I endured of what I can really only call HELL. To my own surprise, HELL didn’t make me more bitter or angrier than I was before, it helped me change a lot in my life. I made the effort to return to a “normal” daily round after the treatment, which in my society means - get a 9to5 job, get a firm place to settle, eat cereal, go to movies, and just move on as if nothing has happened.
I did return to the corporate world. Inspite of the fact that it clashes with a lot of my values, we still tango together, because it helps me support my family, it shows me new ways to questions and challenge my fears, allows me to travel and see more. But in order not to pay the heavy price with my health, I am constantly searching ways to find balance and break through assumptions about the "normality" of the life I'm currently maintaining.
Finding a way to live after Cancer is a process that never ends. For several years I tried not to write about this journey, because every time I revisited my notes, they brought many painful memories very, very close. I did realize, however, that feeling the pain and recognizing it IS part of the process. So now, almost 5 years later I feel ready to reopen my journal and share some of my personal learnings. The world needs more positive messages in order to break away from the fears associated with Cancer, with the stigma and prejudice projected to those that have to live with and after it.
I truly hope that my stories can help you, your loved ones and any other stranger, willing to spare a few moments to take the journey with me.


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