Today I was at my local hospital for a routine biopsy of the 2.5 inch lump that has taken over my right thyroid nodule. I say that it was “routine,” because I first had an ultrasound and biopsy 18 months ago when the lump was discovered. At that time, everything came back benign (yay! no cancer!), but my doctor decided last week that he wanted to have these tests repeated because things can change over time. I have no reason to believe that the results will be anything, but positive, but you know, I suppose it’s possible I could hear something else. I’m not thinking about that though.

If you know me at all, you know that needles and I have had a lifelong hate-filled relationship. I hate them and they don’t care what I think. As part of my 100 New Experiences, I confronted this fear head-on and can say that I’m fairly comfortable around them now. I mean, I’m not running out looking for opportunities to jab myself with them, but for medically necessary procedures, I’ve made great strides.

As I was sitting in the waiting room of the radiology department filling out paper work, a cute little old couple walked in. At first, I thought that maybe the woman was super eccentric and was wearing a wig because, I kid you not, her head looked like a bag of Skittles had thrown up all over her. Her hair was every single color of the rainbow, in no particular order. Listening to how she and her husband interacted, however, I quickly realized that there was nothing abnormal about her. She was witty and cheerful, although her gait was a little slow. Her hubby doted on her like no man I’ve seen before, although not at all in a smothering way.

I wanted to stare at her hair, but my Momma raised me with some manners, so I didn’t. I also wanted to take her picture so I could show you, but again, my Momma raised me with manners, so I didn’t because I didn’t want her to think I was making fun of her or was planning to make her the butt of a joke. She was clearly neither.

She was called first and as she walked by me, we smiled at each other with looks knowing I admired her spunk and she was grateful for my admiration.

A few minutes later, I turned to her husband and commented how much I loved her hair. He told me that she’d come home from the beauty salon three years ago with it done. He had no idea she was going to do it and he believed she did it on a whim. I asked about his reply when he first saw it. He assured me that he told her he loved it because he genuinely did and that everywhere they go, she gets many compliments on it. I said that I loved how whimsical it was an how it showed her obvious zest for life. He said that she was full of zest and optimism, which was good because she faced numerous health issues. Not knowing if I’d see her again, I asked him to tell her how much I loved it, that she had brightened my day, and that as I had my own testing done in a few minutes, I would focus on her spirit and her hair to keep me calm. He promised he would.

Moments later, my name was called and as I walked back for my biopsy, I ran into the woman. This time, I personally told her how much I loved her hair, that I admired her cheerful disposition and the happiness she was bringing to others with her hair, and that I only wished the best for her. She smiled, said thank you, and wished me luck with my own test.

My biopsy went off without a hitch and Dr. McDreamy was fantastic and the nurse Patricia held my hand the whole time. It’s not clear why we needed eight people in the room, more than enough for a cocktail party, when none of them brought cocktails. It’ll be a couple of weeks before I get the results because my doctor is now on vacation, but I’m not worried. And when I get worried, all I need to do is focus on the woman with the Skittles colored hair.

I’m really grateful that I ran into that little old lady today. She reminded me that no matter what else is going on, it’s important to be the rainbow.

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