PLEASE LEAVE YOUR PRETENSE AT THE DOOR!!!!

It appears that a dear friend of mine is a big medical question mark at the moment.  She has been dealing with an enlarged lymph node in her neck since Saturday.  Now when I say enlarged, I mean ENLARGED!  This thing just keeps growing.  The swelling is in her jaw, her neck, and her face.  I know she is so aggravated because the doctors are just saying HMMMMM???????   After two rounds of blood work, three visits to the doctor, and the third antibiotic, she knows no more than she did four days ago.  Not a good thing.  Bless her heart!

But let me tell you about my friend.  She is AMAZING!  She is tough as nails and together we can find humor in just about anything.  So instead of being completely freaked out, we laughed ourselves silly yesterday at her doctor's appointment.  Her nurse was just a bit OCD.  On second thought, that is entirely an understatement!  This nurse was hilarious!  We had the greatest talk about germs!  She shared with us her admitted over-the-top stories about carrying her own bleach to motels and taking 15 minutes before entering Walmart to clean the buggy! She said she just can't help it!  The funny thing was that every time we thought she was gone, she would open the door and tell us more about things that gross her out!  Her facial expressions were priceless!  We had a blast!  She was such an authentic person!  I have the greatest respect for people who just are who they are!  They don't care to admit and laugh at their own faults!  They have a great comfort and confidence about them that makes it so easy to be yourself.  Melissa (my friend) and I both immediately liked this lady!  Those same qualities are what make Melissa so special!  There are never any pretenses! 

When Ralph and I spend time with Melissa and her husband, there is never a dull moment!  We can always count on a great time and more importantly laughter!  We can have different opinions and have heated discussions without fear of judgment!  We are all comfortable enough with each other to tell each other we are full of you know what!  And the cool thing is, we grow and learn from each other! There are things about them that challenge Ralph and I to be better people and I bet they would say the same of us!  And we all know that day or night, good times or bad, we will always be there for each other!

I certainly hope you have people in your life that give you that kind of place!  That place where you are who you are!  That place where not only is being yourself accepted, it is expected! 

I love you Melissa and I hope our trip to the doctor today brings some answers!  I am certainly looking forward to visiting with your nurse again!

I hope you all have a beautiful day!  ~ Charlene