One day as I walked through a
little mall three miles from our home, I noticed a help wanted sign posted in
the window. Intrigued by the beautiful display of cosmetics, wigs and hats, I
thought what girl wouldn’t want to play here? That was then this is now.
Many times during the day
women will stop by to try on a lovely hat, look for a new foundation color, get
fitted for a wig, or have a facial but sometimes they just stop in to chat. I
guess they feel this is a safe haven. After all women are social. We really
don’t seem to have any barriers that separate us.
One would think this environment
would be predominately filled with the joys and the laughter of women. But
you’d be amazed at the true life stories shared here on a daily bases. I happen
to work for a business that offers services for women dealing with hair loss
and cancer.
Usually our day traffic is
high and yesterday happened to be a busy day. As things started to slow down a
women walked in. I acknowledged her, allowed her to do some browsing but noticed
she seemed a little lost.
When working so closely with
people one of the things one needs to do is to find out just what a person is
looking for or wanting by asking open ended questions like what brings you in
here today. This allows the other person to answer and hopefully offer some
clue as to what your next question will be.
As I played this little guess
what I want game with her I realized she really wasn’t in to purchase anything
she was in here because she needed someone to listen.
This is her story. Six years
ago she suffered a long battle with cancer, had a breast removed and at her 5
year going on 6 year mark was cancer free and once again enjoying life.
How things change on a day to
day bases. As she was going over her story she told me her last check up 2
months ago was not good. They had found another spot inside the scare of her
removed breast. This time it was a different cancer. She told me how angry she
was, how unfair it was that she had to go through all this again, how she had
done EVERYTHING right and now she has to deal with cancer and chemo again. It
just wasn’t fair. I had all I could do to keep my tears from flowing. Thinking
to myself as she was speaking … WHY? Why is this ugly disease back again? Yes
it is so unfair? She HAS done everything one would think she needed to do. And
so I let her talk and I listened to her story …
Sometimes all you need to do
is listen. Take time out of your busy day and listen … listen to what is being
said. You too may hear someone’s life story and realize just how lucky you are.
Etchings from the Heart by Susan Cudahy
Photography by Susan Cudahy
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