The Pink Hat

Walking into any surgeon's waiting room can be a daunting experience. People from all walks of life, all ages, races, religions & backgrounds are waiting on some sort of intimate news that will effect their bodies & lives. They're waiting & hoping for some sort of answer, direction or fix. They're making plans or have had their plans interrupted. They're very possibly scared or tired or sick. In a plastic surgeon's office, you've even got people who are happy! They're going to get a nicer nose, tummy tuck, scars repaired or a new set of breasts. They're looking forward to the miracle the surgeon is going to perform on them & they wait with anticipation of how beautiful they'll be if they can just get a surgery done.

The plastic's waiting room that afternoon was full. Mike & I took the last 2 separate seats in the room. There was a mixture of people who had never seen one another prior to this appointment, nor probably ever would again. A unique group of strangers thrown all together in one room- a plastic surgeon's waiting room in downtown Ft. Worth, Texas.

I couldn't help but notice right away, a couple in their mid- 40's, a bit rough around the edges & smelling of cigarette smoke, sitting quietly, holding hands. I took the single seat next to the husband. She was obviously in or just out of chemo treatments for she was bald with a soft & fuzzy, pink hat covering her bare skin. The hat had several pink ribbon pins attached, signifying breast cancer awareness & she sat quietly without a smile. I could read it all over her sweet face- she was tired. She was tired of being sick from chemo. She was tired of doctor appointments, treatments & losing herself to cancer. Her appointment today would probably include a discussion she never envisioned herself having with anyone. That of reconstructing her breasts after mastectomies. This, of course, was a presumption on my part, but in my heart, I knew I had assessed this one correctly.

All I said was, "I like your hat." That's all it took. That's all that was needed to open up the hearts of everyone in that waiting room! The emotions, thoughts, fears & feelings of the people in that room came barreling out to one another. You couldn't get the room quiet after that simple acknowledgement! It was like we were long, lost friends & I believe, it was a God appointed time.

I learned, on this day, the young black man was meeting with the surgeon to have a tattoo removed from his throat in hopes of joining the Navy. His future depended on the answer from this "miracle-doctor". His father waited with him for encouragement & hope for his son.

A middle-aged black woman, heavy set & walking with a cane was eager to ask the 40's something, white lady in the pink hat about her cancer. She & her young adult daughter wanted to offer encouragment & were ready to do just that when the "quiet" was broken in the room. After I asked the lady in the pink hat if she was walking this journey with the Lord, and she responded that she was, the two ladies on the other side of this small waiting room, jumped at the opportunity to encourage her & remind her God was with her!

Then, the father waiting for his son, asked the lady in the pink hat if he could put her on his church's prayer list. He wanted his group to pray for her. He shared with everyone in the room that he'd seen an ad that morning on tv about breast cancer & women dressed in pink. He said he knew he was to look for a "pink" lady that day & God had put her in his path to pray for her. God was praised that day, in that room, by the response of His children to one another. (This man didn't ask about praying for me, & it didn't offend me at all. I thanked God because that man didn't even realize I had been sick! Bringing me this far- that alone is worthy of praise!)

Make no mistake about breast surgery. There are augmentations & there are reconstructions. The two are not the same! The women waiting on their appointments with a plastics surgeon have all together different demeanors, depending on which surgery they seek. One is getting a set of beautiful, perky new breasts & the other is going to endure surgery & painful injections to rebuild what cancer has so mercilessly ripped apart.

No matter the reason we're in the waiting room, we all need the Lord. Some are patients, some are supporters, & all are in need. In the happy times, sad times, painful times, joyful times, quiet times & times in the doctor's waiting rooms, we're simply in need of Him. We're all in need of prayer. We're all in need of encouragement. We're all needing kind words & support. We may overlook it at first, but we're all wearing a pink hat.

Blessings!