ANOTHER 'OOPS!'

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"I have a bit of a cold – stuffed up some," Bird told me when I picked him up yesterday morning. "Hope they don’t refuse to give me the treatment because of that."

Even though we joked around as usual, his worry was on both our minds during the long drive to the hospital. It was a relief to learn that his blood test was okay, and that the doc left it up to Bird himself to decide whether or not he felt well enough to take the chemotherapy.

The nurse gave us the information on side effects, then set him up in a chair and installed the pumps. A cheery senior citizen, volunteering for the ‘Hope and Cope’ organization, approached us, wondering if there was anything he could do to help. My request for some water was promptly granted, and a glass of ice was served beside it. Wonderful!

"I’m hanging around here if you need anything else. I’m can be useful!" He winked as he left to stroll among the patients in the room, approaching each one with a nod and a few kind words.

Not long into the treatment, Bird mentioned that a coffee would be nice. I grabbed the elevator and rode it down to the ‘Second Cup’ counter. Well aware of my tendency to spill, or trip, or just run into things, I grabbed a handful of napkins. When I stepped out of the elevator on the 8th floor, I was feeling quite proud of myself – both Styrofoam cups were as full as when the waiter had transferred me the responsibility for their welfare!

There is a choice of clichés to tell you what happened next. One would be ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’; ‘or maybe ‘Look before you leap’; better yet, ‘Pride cometh before a fall’. In plain English, the best thing to say is ‘PAY ATTENTION!!!’

I WAS paying attention (to the very cute intern walking in the corridor) but just did not remember the sharp angle of the corner and…yeh…I hit the wall. Scalding coffee slurped on my hand – I yelped and let go of the villain cup. When the hot liquid splashed on my feet, I yelped again…something that rhymes with Puck…then scrambled to right the cup to save some of its contents. It took a few minutes, much stoic ignoring of pain, and every napkin I had to clean the mess.

When I finally reached my brother, my attempt to camouflage the incident didn’t work.

"It’s really hot," I said in my most casual tone of voice. "I left some room for you to add water to cool it down." My bro, who knows me so well, glanced at the half-full cup of coffee, then at my shoes with their tell-tale stains. He grinned, but I was saved from any smart-ass remark by the arrival of our Hope and Cope volunteer.

“Smart lady!” the volunteer gushed. “I make coffee here too, but it’s not nearly as good as that of the Second Cup. I love their coffee!”

“Well then,” I gushed back. “The next time I go down, I’ll bring you one too! A return of good service!” He patted my arm as he laughed, then kept moving. My brother had been silent during the exchange, but I knew better than to think I would get off so easy.

“You know,” the bro smirked. “If he wants some right now, there should be a cup... between his water and your shoes…” He fell silent when I lifted the wadded ball of wet napkins I had not yet managed to discard. He knows my aim is pretty good, and he was in no position to duck.

A long moment, then his wink called a truce, and we both SMILED.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to my friends in the USA, and HAPPY CANADA DAY to my Canadian buddies…adding a whole weekend worth of SMILES with that!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec