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Photo courtesy of Debra Michelle Photography.
Nancy Bynon, left, and Kathryn Totorici, right, had been friends for years before they received breast cancer diagnoses within weeks of each other.
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Image courtesy of Kathryn Tortorici.
The cover art features a scene from Telluride, Colorado and the book was painted by artist Katy Garrison, a Colorado Springs artist. Tortorici’s late mother, Barbara Lavalett was the artist for the interior of the book. Image courtesy of Kathryn Tortorici
Former Mountain Brook residents Kathryn Tortorici and Nancy Bynon became friends after meeting in 2006, and their lives shared a lot of parallels.
They partnered together to work on a cookbook for the Junior League of Birmingham in 2008. They both had sons who played basketball together and their children graduated from Mountain Brook High School between 2006-2011.
And they both were diagnosed with breast cancer within a few weeks of each other in 2019.
“I will never forget the day when Nancy told me she tested positive for breast cancer, only for me to tell her the same thing a few weeks later,” Tortorici said.
Bynon has lived in Houston for the past 12 years but still has a home in the Birmingham area. Tortorici taught school and attended church in Homewood and after spending several years in Atlanta, she now resides on the border of Vestavia Hills/Cahaba Heights.
Although their paths would separate them from living in the same state, the two remained close friends.
“It was difficult,” Tortorici said. “When you hear the word ‘cancer,’ you’re in shock, but having a friend be there with you, you can grasp it. It wasn’t as scary knowing Nancy was learning things and I was learning things and we were helping each other.”
Their cancers were similar in that they were both estrogen positive and both women had lumpectomies. Tortorici’s cancer was more invasive but was caught early, and she had 28 radiation treatments. Meanwhile, Bynon went through six rounds of chemotherapy along with 20 radiation treatments.
Bynon’s daughter created jewelry and bracelets, and that gave Bynon the idea to make her own bracelets as a way to give to others.
When Tortorici traveled to Houston to visit Bynon for the first time during her treatments, she was gifted with a bracelet from her friend. That turned into trips to bead stores, making bracelets and recruiting others to help them.
“I’d roll off my bracelet onto someone else’s hand and share hope, faith and that on their journey they were not alone,” Tortorici said. “I’d get more excited about going to radiation with that in my mind rather than the procedure itself.”
Hundreds of miles away, during her treatment days at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bynon was also giving out bracelets not only to patients, but to techs, nurses and others to brighten their day.
‘Two by Two’
Both women had people reach out to them who were going through similar cancer experiences or knew someone who was. That’s when they realized they had to share what they had learned.
Since they had already created a cookbook together, they decided to combine their cancer experiences into a book to share with others. Instead of just “another cancer book,” they designed the format as if they were writing to a new best friend facing the same journey.
“We had a lot of information to share,” Bynon said. “Kathryn is very creative and I’m more organized, technically. We bounced our ideas off each other when creating the format.”
In “Two by Two,” each chapter includes a portion of their personal stories, a devotional, a healthy recipe, key takeaways and a prayer. Also included are scriptures, strategies to overcome fear and develop a strong mindset, questions to ask their doctors and even what kind of clothes to wear to appointments.
“It’s a small, beautiful gift book that would not be overwhelming but a joy to read,” Tortorici said.
“Sometimes the book is easier to give than to receive,” Bynon said, “but this is the time for you to step back and let your friends and family help you in any real way, because somebody wants to do something.”
The recipes include salads, appetizers, entrees, snacks, desserts and even two mocktails.
Bynon revamped some of the recipes to use a natural maple syrup or honey instead of sugar.
“Nancy is great at concocting her own recipes; she has a knack,” Tortorici said. “That was really Nancy’s forte was the recipes, and mine was more of the storytelling. We played to our strengths.”
The book will be available on Oct. 24 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and just prior to that, Tortorici and Bynon will have several book signings in Birmingham and Houston.
- Oct. 12: Ryan Reeve Boutique in Cahaba Heights (The owner attended Mountain Brook High School with Tortorici and is a fellow breast cancer survivor)
- Oct. 17: At Home in Homewood
- Oct. 18: Leaf and Petal at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens
- Oct. 19: Trussville Street Party
Bynon said she hopes one of the things that people away from the book is how important their relationships are, both with those around them, and with God.
“When you boil it all down, that’s the only thing that matters and sometimes it takes a hard lesson such as cancer — once you have it, you go through it, you’re tested, the things that are unnecessary in your life fall by the wayside,” she said. “I hope through this book people will come away with some strategies on how to daily get through this, but that they will go up all 1,000 feet and see what really is important.”
Echoing those sentiments, Tortorici said it’s important whether going through cancer together or any adversity.
“I hope the book reveals how important friendships and relationships are,” she said. “You don’t always have to be strong, but you’re never alone. We hope someone can learn, be encouraged and end up with hope. There is hope.”
‘Little bell moments’
Tortorici said she strives to live life to the fullest every day. She will continue taking her cancer medication until April 2024. After her radiation was complete, she and her husband took a Caribbean cruise.
Bynon will finish her medication in September 2024 and has plans with her husband for a trip to Tuscany.
“With the radiation, you get to ring the bell [upon completion of treatments],” Tortorici said. I just keep thinking in life, whether it's a death in the family or a divorce or a child leaving for college or something, we all need to have little bell moments of moving on. What’s the next thing? That's life.”
As for future plans, the women agree their brains are always going.
“We’re always working. How can we help others? What are others’ needs?” Tortorici said. “We’ll just keep seeing one day at a time, but just looking out for somebody else and their needs, that brings me the biggest joy and I know it does with Nancy. I think that’s why this book has been so exciting, knowing how many people going through this will be affected just by knowing what to do.”
