The wife is one very impressive transitarian. She can absorb the slights of buses she misses when the drivers fail to follow their schedule and still return to the bus. Yes, she gets mad. She storms. But the next day she returns.
She survives. And now she will survive breast cancer. Count on it.
The wife tried to hide the news. I called her to tell her I was heading to 65th Street to meet her. Monday, I was sent home after I was told I am being laid off. I returned to 65th Street that evening to meet the wife to ride the bus home with her. Yesterday, I went to work and was told to go home and not to bother coming back. I went home and returned to 65th Street that evening to meet the wife's train. I enjoy these trips. It's a transitarian thing.
After I told the wife this afternoon that I was getting ready to catch the bus she said we could take the train to midtown together Friday to consult with her doctor. It took some prying to get the news: The lump in the breast and the lump in the nearby lymph node are cancerous.
"100 percent curable," she said. But it will require some cutting.
I drafted this blog post at the Starbucks and 65th and Folsom while waiting for the wife's train.
When everything goes bad at once it seems somehow more manageable. It certainly puts my job loss in perspective.
Time to pack up the computer and walk across the street to meet the wife.
5 comments:
Good luck to you and strength to your wife.
I can't imagine how hard all this must be for the two of you. I wish the best for you and your wife.
It's strange. I don't think I fully grasp what's happened. If I had just found myself unemployed after 28 years with The Sacramento Bee or I had just heard the cancer diagnosis, it would have been more ... well, shocking or real. But both getting laid off and discovering the cancer act like noise-canceling waves. I'm just numb.
I wanted to write something today about the nationwide increase in transit use, a fitting way to celebrate Dump the Pump Day. But I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to blog.
Life can be so harsh sometimes. Best wishes to you and your wife in these difficult times
Aw crap.
If it's any help, my mother has been 5 years free and is in excellent health. And the lady across the street is doing very well in her recovery.
I've been laid off twice in the past year, but both times I've gotten very lucky and had a new gig within a month.
But 28 years, though. There's just no respect any more for employees. Makes me want to work in Europe.
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