Just say it. Just ask it.

I hopped in the cab at 6am to meet Maroosa (?). He was taking me to one of the many appointments that proceed my chemo at 11am. Maroosa was from Cameroon, Africa.

We talked the entire time and I certainly walked away with his phone number for all the following trips.

I call it fate when you get in a cab with a driver that is as well versed in Art Fairs as I am. It may be a few years since I was on the circuit but for 12 years I loaded and packed my van like no ones business. Those were the days Chris and I sat in my garage in 100 degree humidity pinning and ironing dresses non stop. And before that we spent all-nighters painting desks, dressers and anything we could get our hands on. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked physically. I loved it.

Yes, that was a bit of a tangent. But Maroosa reminded me of those days. Everything he said rang so close to home. It was fantastic hearing his story and sharing his mind.

The Art Fair world is still small and I’m please to have found another gypsy!!!

I did my blood work, got my medicines refilled and headed off to get an XRay. It was packed and I luckily ended up next to a man I could not stop starring at. Yes, he was handsome and athletic but on top of that he had a prosthetic leg like the 6 Million Dollar Man. Aka the Bionic Man.

Of course, my head told me not to stare, just ask. I’ve been through tons of stares when Joe was young. I always wished people would just ask. So the story is (fake names used!)…

Billy noticed a small bump on his knee and it never left. He went to the Doctor and the Dr assumed he was a carpenter. You know, always working on your knees, and he had it removed. It was all good.

It came back a bit later. They did all the tests again. All was good. Nothing in blood work or bone work. The cancer was tangled and wrapped in his muscle. They were going to remove his muscle and rebuild his leg from different parts of his body. He was like, “Nope Lets take care of this. I’ve got soccer to play and weights to lift. I don’t want to injure anymore of me”.

And now he’s doing exactly as he said. It’s been about 3 months before his 5 year anniversary. And he’s got it!!

My memory may be a tad shady but I do know these facts below cuz I wrote them as soon as I heard them…

He said to me “Don’t you dare ask your self why me. There’s a reason for everything, if you keep asking “why me?” you won’t hear the answer. You’ve got too much stuff to do”.

So we said our “pleased to meet you’s” and off we went to our separate XRays. I turned around said good luck. I got 1/2 way down the hall and thought “What did I just say? Did I just say good luck to the coolest guy I met today?”.

I walked back and said “You don’t need good luck. You’ve got this. ” He smiled huge and gave me 2 thumbs up.

Yes, a quick story for you just because I told myself to embrace my curiosity and ask his story instead of staring.

I sure hope I see him again!

My update: Treatment is still weekly. And it’s been good to me. The normal nausea that medicine hides and the 80yr old (thank you to you know who for titling this) feeling of exhaustion.

But I got this and everyday I’m doing all I can to make others smile. After all, my grandpa says its what we should do. Actually, that may be my hardest part for me right now…. Missing my grandpa. He’s 92 and we need to be with each other. I’m gonna try to Face Time him tomorrow.

Can you believe I did not bring a computer to TX?

-Denise