The Prognosis

A young mother who had been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer returned home from the hospital self-conscious about her physical appearance and loss of hair following  radiation.

Upon sitting down on a kitchen chair, her son appeared quietly in the doorway studying her curiously.  

As his mother began a rehearsed speech to help him understand what he was seeing, the boy came forward to snuggle in her lap.  Intently, he laid his head to her chest and held on.

As his mother was saying, "And sometime, hopefully soon, I will look the way I used to, and then I'll be better,", the boy sat up thoughtfully.

With six-year old frankness, he simply responded, "Different hair.  Same old heart."

His mother need no longer had to wait for "sometime, hopefully soon" to be better.  She was.

~ Rochelle M. Pennington