Following one of my recent appointments in Boston, I took a stroll along Charles St. to do some stocking stuffer shopping (chocolate, in a wide variety of amazing variations). I popped into a small stationary store, where I purchased the snowman/Kenmore Square postcard in my previous post. There was another greeting card that really grabbed my attention though. Upon spying it, my first thought (just a bit self-indulgent) was that I would really love it if someone sent that card to me.
As I was paying for my two purchases, I said to the salesclerk, “would you like to hear something really terrible?” Mais oui! She loved hearing terrible things. Well, perhaps I’d built it up a bit much, but I told her that I planned to mail the special card to myself. “Oh! I hope you do!” She said. That was all the encouragement I needed.
The next morning I mailed some packages as well as an envelope addressed to myself.
Peter was with me the next day when I fetched our mail from the box. “Oh look”, I said, “a card for me!” As he looked over my shoulder with mild curiosity, I opened my beautiful card. Inside was written, Love, Linnea.
Peter’s response was his typical, “Oh gawd, Mom. You are such a dork”. But then he said, “The next time you need emergency affirmation just let me know.”
That boy’s going to make someone very happy someday. And the card looks lovely on the wall of my closet.
life and breath: outliving lung cancer 