07.21.06

I think I got to do some little bit of good today. I hope I did.

I was working the bar (i.e. the espresso machine) and a woman ordered an iced mocha with whipped cream. She stood on the other side of the counter and looked at me. Really looked. She asked,

"Do you wear your hair shorter than this?"

I nodded and said, "This is about a week's growth from about a quarter inch." [X here, that's about .64 cm]

"A week?" she said. She fingered her hair. "I've been going through chemo, and my hair's that long after a month."

"Oh," I said, "Chemo's hard on a body. That's what my mom says. She's an oncology nurse. But you know that, right? And it must be working real hard dealing with the chemo."

"Yeah. I'm going in for my last round of chemo next week."

"Damn. I had a friend go through chemo. She said it was a great chance to be a blonde, a brunette, or a redhead whenever she wanted."

"I do that," the woman said.

"That's so cool!" I replied. The woman smiled. "You'll do great. And your hair will grow back."

"You think so?" she asked.

"It will," I said and handed her the drink she'd ordered.

"Thank you," she said, "Thank you for the encouragement."

Gosh.

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