Simple Things

Going through four weeks of radiation treatments, you begin to see familiar faces in the waiting room each day. They are faces of other patients also receiving radiation treatments, either scheduled just before or just after you.

During my last two weeks of treatments I daily noticed a gentleman, likely in his 70's. We had never spoke. But we had exchanged glances over waiting room magazines.

In my last week of treatments I was feeling very rough. My movements were slow. My hair was gone. My stomach was upset. I felt, quite frankly, close to death.

The process of the daily treatments always moved quickly. The staff was very professional, understanding and caring. The time spent in the waiting room was always minimal. Often times I would be called from the first waiting room to a second waiting room and then into the treatment area.

On one day, during my last week of treatments, I was called to the second waiting room. I had glanced to my right and noticed the older gentleman, that I had started to notice daily in the lobby, coming out of the treatment room towards me. I looked back into my magazine. As he passed by I felt a soft hand on my shoulder and he said, "Have a good day," as he kept moving by me.

It was a gesture I won't soon forget. Such a simple, small gesture. It didn't matter that he knew me, or anything about me. He knew what I was going through and decided to reach out and add a bit of comfort and kindness.

Along this journey I've been touched by similar anonymous acts, some simple, some much more complex. If I can return such acts of kindness to others for the rest of my life - you can count on it, I WILL!