“I am from South Korea…you know, Psy?”
As I pay for my dry cleaning, I talk to owner Kyunghee (Key), as her husband works away at the sewing machine (talk about gender bending). Kyunghee, a South Korean emigrant, has never heard of Movember. I asked if she has conversations with her husband and kids (1 boy and 1 girl) about physical and mental health. Not specifically, but she tries to encourage healthy habits like eating well and exercising. She admits, her husband is actually more active than she is.
After a while, her daughter, Joy, joins us. Joy is amazingly a nursing student at York University with a specific interest in geriatrics. Healthy eating on campus is tough, but at York, Berries and Blooms is a great local choice with healthy salads, sandwiches, smoothies, etc.
Joy recognizes that there is currently an aging population and she has always had a genuine interest in caring for elderly people. In relation to Movember, prostate cancer is typically an “older” man’s disease as 80% of prostate cancer occurs in men over 60 years old. I am happy to see this year’s Movember theme specifically target older men because this age group is so often ignored. “Movember and sons” is the theme, but let’s push that even further to include our daughters too in the conversation about men’s health – evidenced in this amazing mother and daughter duo.
Random aside: Let’s watch a moustache dance to Gangnam Style
Jenna Jacobson 