LAM

Today I met a woman at Punky's (as I often do) and she made me think of Becky. She carried a small oxygen tank in a black pack on her shoulder, just like Becky used to do when she was out. I don't know her name, but her husband's name was Richard. She smiled very nicely and was so friendly. I noticed she wore one of those rubber bracelets that's so popular, and when I took her food out I asked her what it said. It was the web address for the LAM site. http://lam.uc.edu/>http://lam.uc.edu/ This woman has Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, which is a big word for infinite doom. She explained that it was a lung disorder that is terminal. But everything is, we joked. It strikes about 100 women a year, usually about my age. But 1 in 5 are post menopausal, which she was. Her husband sat quietly while we talked, he had that same look inhis eye that Dad had when Becky explained her illness. I told her about Becky, and showed her my own bracelet, "Phenomal Hope". I told her how Becky had lived 4 years, rather than 6 months, and that she never complained, and how strong she was. I told her to keep smiling, and anything is possible. I wanted to say so much more. I promised to go to the website, and I did. When she left, she caught my eye, waved, and smiled. I smiled back, and almost cried. I had smiled at a dead woman, but she wasn't yet. And isn't ife so unfair? And aren't we lucky to meet such special people? I hope I touched her day, she touched mine.