All I could think about was how much I hated flying. Airports are loud and
crowded. These people would be dangerous to me in just a couple weeks. Any small
cough or sneeze and my weakened immune system wouldn\u2019t be strong enough to ward
off simple colds. This was my future. If I could live through the chemo I would still
always wonder in the back of my mind if it would come back. I was diagnosed with
cancer five days ago and my mother and my insurance company had made arrangements
for me to go to a facility in Virginia. So here I sat with my purse, my one carry-on and a
boarding pass waiting for the delayed flight with nothing to distract me.

I knew I was fidgeting. My foot wouldn\u2019t stop shaking and my fingers were
drumming anxiously on my water bottle. I stared through the people walking by and
opened my wallet again to look at pictures of my daughters.

\u201cMay I see?\u201d He said in a friendly tone. As I glanced over to the sound I found a tall
and handsome man with a compassionate face. He had dark hair and thoughtful dark
eyes. He was sitting across from me a couple chairs down, but as he asked he stood up
and moved into the chair next to me anticipating that I would say yes.

I was surprised that anyone would want to make conversation with me. I had to
look awful. I hadn\u2019t been sleeping well and what makeup I had on was applied yesterday
before I left. My clothes were baggy and comfortable for the trip (I always dressed in
layers when I travelled), but otherwise unattractive. I hadn\u2019t actually felt self conscious
about my appearance until now.

\u201cMy daughters. I won\u2019t be able to see them for a while so\u2026\u201d I didn\u2019t finish my
sentence; I didn\u2019t want to think about it too much. He had beautiful eyes-now that I
could look without him seeing me. He had smile lines in the corners and thick eyelashes.
His hair was a little long in the front and it fell in his eyes frequently. He didn\u2019t seem to
mind it as he brushed it back into place.

\u201cI\u2019m going to the Cancer Institute there.\u201d He said it like it was a vacation, just a stop
along the way. Did he know that\u2019s where I was going too? I\u2019m sure the shocked
expression on my face gave something away, but he didn\u2019t want to embarrass me and he
folded the wallet setting it next to me on the chair rail. \u201cYou\u2019re children are beautiful,
they look just like you.\u201d