Can I borrow your Spanish-English dictionary???

Yesterday the craziest thing happened.  O.K. so maybe it's not crazy.  It's just life.  My life.  My next door neighbor and friend from the islands, Natacha, came over to borrow a Spanish-English dictionary.  You see, on her side of the island (Haiti), they speak Creole or French.  She only needed help with ONE or TWO words, but had this "impression" she needed to knock on my door and ask if I had a dictionary she could borrow.

I was having a difficult day.  She of course said the NICEST things such as "Heidi, you look like a MILLION BUCKS.  WOW, what's going on in your life . . . because you look FANTASTIC!!!"  So what do you say to comments like that?  Yes, I have lost weight.  Yes, I just went to go visit my gay boyfriend/colorist on Saturday and he did a REALLY awesome job on my cut and color.  Yes, the dust is settling and the clouds are lifting . . . so I don't feel like I'm in such a FUNK.  But really????

We have been neighbors for almost 5 years.  I knew she was a nurse for some prominent doctors.  I knew she works far, far away (o.k. so it's only 45 minutes away, but still . . . .)  But I never knew what kind of docs she works for.  It just so happens that she works for specialists that treat the SAME medical condition that I was just diagnosed with.  She is a STOREHOUSE of information.  She deals with patients like ME every single day.  And she shared with me SUCCESS STORY after SUCCESS STORY after SUCCESS STORY.  It's not like it used to be.  There are some modern advances in medicine.  People do get cured. People do go on to live happy, productive, "normal" lives.

And if that wasn't enough good news to make my day, she also shared with me some other stories that have to do with the OTHER situation I am dealing with right now.  Incredible!   She ended our visit by telling me "Heidi, you need to have faith and you need to have hope.  The Lord is lifting you up right now and he is with you every step of the journey.  YOU.ARE.NOT.ALONE."  I couldn't have said it better myself.