Laugh It Off

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA - It’s been a long week, and it’s not even over yet. I think when I travel, the work week that follows a weekend trip just wipes.me.out. So end of day on Thursday, I get a call I just have to share with you. I could have gone one of two ways with this; overreact and get angry or just laugh it off. I, as is my new pledge, opted for the latter.

Me: Vera Bradley Foundation, this is Heidi! (Smile, because they can tell if you are smiling or not. Really.)

Darling Caller: Oh, man. Really? Foundation? Are you just Breast Cancer, did I call the Breast Cancer?

Me: Yes, ma’am, I guess I, in fact, am just the Breast Cancer. (Ok, now really smiling because this is hysterical. How often are you identified as a disease and nothing else?)

Darling Caller: Do you know how to transfer me? I don’t want Breast Cancer. (Not just smiling now, trying not to choke with laughter. I DON’T WANT BREAST CANCER EITHER, SISTER, AND YET HERE I AM! And do I know how to transfer? Quite some time ago I mastered the manual dexterity thing, but shoot yea, let’s give the old button-pushing a whirl and see if I can actually handle it!)

So there you have it, my afternoon. This follows 4 straight days of new cancer patient/friends in the waiting, one close scare with a sweet friend (good news, Sarah is ok!) and my endless pursuit of research dollars. This poor caller probably had a pretty rough day herself, and was obviously in a big hurry. I needed a little lift, and she provided it and isn’t even aware. Thank you, darling caller. I hope the Heidi you were looking for and had a good rest of the day. And I don’t want you to get Breast Cancer, either. :)