The Way is Beautiful

Will she live or will she die? This is the question that came to mind. I was on the 4th floor of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance waiting for the nurse with the clipboard to come out and call my name. It was my 5th anniversary from transplant last Monday, October 4th, 10. I was in for my 6 month check up. The woman perpendicular to me sat in a wheel chair. Her head slumped, too tired from the Chemo sessions. Her bald head a pale grey color with a few wisps of hair. She wore slippers because her feet were too swollen to fit into shoes, side effects of the chemo and an alchemy of drugs. A tear came from the corner of her eye. I knew exactly what she was thinking. I was in her same position physically, spiritually, emotionally. Just 5 years ago I sat with death just as she does now. In 3 days I fly back to the Himalaya for another trek. The journey to get back to the mountains I love I remember well. I see my journey reflected in the woman sitting in the wheel chair in front of me. She sits up, straightens her head and wipes the tear from her cheek. She flattens the wrinkles on the thigh of her pant. I know what she is thinking: I am alive now and whichever direction life takes me it will be good. The nurse with the clip board calls my name and a rush of emotion fills me. Images pass through my mind like a fast slide show. Whatever my blood readings reveal today I know I am alive now and which ever direction life takes me it will be good. The woman in the wheel chair turns her head my way as I rise from the chair. She knows exactly what I am thinking. We smile into each others eyes, mind, and heart.