No Name Brand

We met two beautiful women today...I will call them 'Phyllis' and 'Grace'.



'Phyllis' and I met today in the basement of HSC, radiation department, when the fire alarm in the hospital went off. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Wes had just walked in for his radiation treatment and about five minutes later the fire alarm went off. Those of us who were in the waiting area all seemed to be having a blonde moment. We sat calmly listening to the loud incessant beeping that we 'thought' could be a fire alarm, but when we looked around and no one seemed to be panicking we just decided it was some machine that was malfunctioning and the sound was very annoying. I was content because I didn't hear code blue in radiation so I knew Wes was OK. Another 5 minutes passed and finally all the technicians in our area came out from behind the curtain and announced to the waiting area that 'yes' there was definitely a fire and that we needed to follow them to the safe zone.


'Phyllis' got up from her chair and asked "Are we all supposed to follow you?"


"Uh, yeah" said the one technician trying to hide a smile "We don't want to leave anyone behind"

And never the one to be left out of a conversation I commented to 'Phyllis', "No, only the good ones get to go to the safe zone"


Everyone burst out laughing and I escorted 'Phyllis' to the front of the line of evacuees. I liked 'Phyllis' right away and I think she liked me because she stuck to me like glue. Now, let me explain why I call her 'Phyllis'.


She was a petite older lady with snow white hair that stuck out all over. But, what really caught my eye when she first walked in was her glasses...they were huge! No, really they were so huge! The first thought that crossed my mind when I saw her was...if you would add some feathers to those specs she would look just like Phyllis Diller. And believe me that is not an insult, I loved watching Phyllis Diller on TV when I was younger!


We reached the centre waiting room along with all the other radiation techs and patients and 'Phyllis' and I got separated. I moved to the back of the room to sit on the edge of the planter, leaving the soft chairs open for the patients. It didn't take long and I saw 'Phyllis' peeking through the shrubbery looking for me, I smiled and waved at her. She quickly got up from her seat and made her way over to me and perched herself beside me on the ledge with a big grin.


We talked and laughed for about five minutes but before we could exchange names Sunil our radiologist came through the crowd and indicated that I was supposed to follow him. I said a quick goodbye to 'Phyllis' hoping that I would see her again soon and followed Sunil who had brought Wes out from radiology.


I asked Wes if they had managed to finish his radiation before they came to the safe zone.


"Yeah," he said with a chuckle"they came into the room to tell me that it was the fire alarm, but not to panic because I was in the safest room in the hospital because it is all concrete."


I smiled back at him, content that another treatment was over and done with. He looked really good, his forehead had the imprint of the mask on it and was quite red from the radiation, but I knew it wouldn't be there for long and none of that took away the contentment we were feeling even with the unknown fire happening somewhere above us.


We made casual conversation with the people around us, while we were waiting to find out how serious this fire was.


One of them made the comment that someone was probably smoking in the entrance and had set off the fire alarm. Again everyone chuckled until the following announcement came over the loud speaker,


"Southeast entrance code red...southeast entrance code red"


We all looked at each other and laughed. Did she call that one or what? A few minutes later we were told everything was clear and we could leave. Sunil gave us our schedule for next week's treatments and we were off.


We went back to Nic's apartment and decided to go for a quick walk. Wes and I went to the underground parking to get our hats (Wes is supposed to wear a hat to protect his head...a trucker? Wearing a hat? Hmmmm) and we met a couple of older women who entered the elevator with us. 'Grace' was the woman with the beautiful reddish hair and bright red lipstick.


'Grace' asked if we had just moved in to the apartment building and we explained that we were staying with our son Nicolas who lived on the third floor while Wes was receiving his treatments for a brain tumour. Her face fell when she heard the news. She followed us into the lobby completely focused on Wes.


"Well, you look great for someone who is going through so much!" she commented, then she turned to include me in the conversation, "If there is anything, anything that either one of you needs...well, I live in 601, please don't hesitate to ask...anything at all."


As she walked us to the door she stopped and said in a quiet voice "You are in my...uh... prayers!" the word 'prayers' came out so softly I could hardly hear it and I could tell she was struggling with her emotions as she turned and walked away.


Now you know why I call her 'Grace'


"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:12