The Most Amazingly Special Thing of All

Never say or think, Never !

“Ruby Lee, what is the matter with you ?  You look madder than a wet hen,”  Peggy Joy declared.  “And what is that big bandage for that’s swallowing up the left side of your face ?”

“Hello, Peggy Joy,” Ruby Lee blushed with embarrassment, but her eyes snapped defiantly.  “Please, forgive my sour mood.  Believe me, I am working to tamp it down.  I’ve been praying all morning for God to forgive my weakness of the Spirit, and fill me with His Loving Tender Mercies.”

Peggy Joy had never known her friend to be out of sorts.  In fact, most folks around town said that Peggy Joy was too much of a push over, and far too forgiving.  That you could step hard on her big toe, and she’d turn around and apologize for having her big toe stuck too far out in the first place.

“Ruby Lee, if you have the time, why don’t we mosey on over to the City Park just across the street for a little walk around the 

trail ?  We can catch up with one another, and you can tell me why

your face is hiding behind that big ’ole bandage,”  Peggy Joy suggested.

“Is it that big ?” Ruby Lee reached up and touched the bandage gingerly and self consciously with her fingertips.

Ruby Lee laughed softly,  “No, no, honey.  It’s fine.  You know me.  I’m always exaggerating about one thing or another.  The bandage doesn’t look bad.  It’s just very noticeable on that pretty face of yours.”

“It’s not bleeding through is it ?”  Ruby Lee asked uncertainly.

‘No, no.  Really, Ruby Lee.  The bandage looks fine.  You look fine.  Now, tell me why in the world you’re having to wear it in the first place,”  Peggy Joy pressed.

“Well, you know that I’ve been doing contract work ever since Ralph and I split up ? “  Ruby Lee asked.

Peggy Joy smiled widely and said,  “Yes, you have been alone for far too long, Ruby Lee.  I have a gentleman that Jerald and I met at one of the Art Shows last month that I am dying to introduce you to…”

“Well, I’m not interested, Peggy Joy.  Especially not right now,”  Ruby Lee interrupted.

Peggy Joy, spotted a nearby park bench under the shade of a large Live Oak Tree.  “Ruby Lee, why don’t we sit down over here, and you can tell me what all of this is about.”

The two women sat down.  Ruby Lee held her fidgeting hands in her lap.  She stared at them in silence.

“Well ?”  Peggy Joy prodded.

“I’m just trying to figure out where to start,”  Ruby Lee said hesitantly.  “Oh well, I’ll just begin with my doctor’s visit.”

“Since I’ve been on my own, and doing contract work for another company, because that’s the company’s way of saving money on health insurance and other costs, I have not had any Health Care Insurance,”  Peggy Joy said quickly.

“Then the Affordable Care Act got passed, but Governor Rick Perry and Governor Greg Abbott, and the mostly Republican Legislature have refused the Medicaid expansion from the Federal Government to help lower Health Insurance costs for working folks like me,”  Ruby Lee explained.

Ruby Lee grinned ironically and added, “But I sure did notice that Abbott and the Legislature didn’t blink twice before begging for Federal Monies and Emergency Help from President Obama when we had that terrible killer Flood in Texas a few weeks back.”

Ruby Lee waved her hands up in the air and said, “Anyway, I had a large, dark Skin Growth pop up on the left side of my jaw line.  So, I grabbed some medical books from the Library, got on-line, and looked up Cancerous Skin Growths.  And I was pretty sure that the Growth on my face was one of those terrible Cancer Growths.”

“Well, you can imagine my dismay.  So, I worked a bunch of overtime, for which I never got overtime pay, so that I could afford to get some kind of Health Insurance,” Ruby Lee continued.

“I found some Health Insurance online that was within my price range and got it.  I’m so glad that none of them can turn anybody down for pre-existing conditions anymore.  What was that all about anyway ?  Do the doctors work under a Hippocratic Oath or a Hypocritical Oath ?”  Ruby Lee asked challengingly.

“Anyway, I’m relieved to have Health Insurance now, but it has a $3,000.00 dollar deductible !”  Ruby Lee exclaimed.

“Whose got that kind of pocket change ?”  Ruby Lee asked rhetorically.  “Well, certainly not me.  So, I called a Cancer doctor’s office that was on my new Insurance plan, and explained to the Lady on the Phone that I was working, but poor.  That I had a $3,000.00 dollar deductible that I would have to pay out over time to them before my Health Insurance would kick in,”  Ruby Lee said.

“So, I told them that I wanted to schedule a visit with their best doctor, because the Cancerous Growth was on my face, and I didn’t want a big scar,”  Ruby Lee touched the large bandage on her face nervously once again.

“I told the Lady on the Phone twice that it was not a ’getting to know you’ visit’.  That I didn’t want any X-Rays or Tests run, because they were all expensive, and I couldn’t afford them.  And that I just wanted the doctor to say “Hi,” and very quickly remove the Growth, patch me up, and let me get out of there as quickly as possible, because they charge $165.00 an hour,”  Ruby Lee sighed.

“I made my Intentions and Needs very clear to that Lady on the Phone,”  Ruby Lee stressed.

“Well, when I got there.  I had to wait 45 minutes for my pre-scheduled Procedure,”  Ruby Lee grumbled.  “I finally got into the doctor’s back room, and he smiled, and tapped around on his little lap computer, and nodded his head like he understood everything I was reiterating to him.  And then he finally turned around and said that he didn’t have time to do the Procedure that day.  That he wanted X-Rays and some Tests run, and that I shouldn’t wait too much longer, because her was fairly certain that the big, dark Skin Growth on the left side of my jaw line was Cancerous.”

Ruby Lee knotted her hands into fists and turned and stared into Peggy Joy’s eyes directly.  “Peggy Joy, I have never been so taken aback in my Life.  And God forgive me, I was very rude to that doctor.”

“I don’t know what got into me, but I gave him a piece of my mind.  I explained my circumstances to him all over again, and why I could only afford the Procedure to remove that Cancerous Growth from my face.  That even that was going to be a real financial stretch for me,”  Ruby Lee went on.

“I told him that I had made my Needs very clear to his Lady on the Phone before I came in. And that his behavior was calloused, discourteous and unethical, because he was trying to force me to spend money I did not have, and refusing to remove the Cancer on my face unless I did the unaffordable things he wanted me to do his way,”  Ruby Lee said firmly.

“I also told him that I was not going to pay for the time he had spent with me that day.  That it definitely was not worth $165.00 dollars, and I picked up my purse and left that building as fast as I could, and remain ladylike,”  Ruby Lee’s eyes began to tear up.

Peggy Joy patted her friend’s shoulder saying, “But you obviously got the procedure done, Ruby Lee.”  She stared at the reddening spot on Ruby Lee’s bandage.  But didn’t dare say anything to her friend about it, fearing to upset her further.

Ruby Lee stared out at the multi-colored wild flowers sprinkled throughout the bright green grasses of the City Park surrounding them.  “I took that Cancer off of my face myself, Peggy Joy.  I’m a country girl, and I was raised that if you can’t afford to get something done, you do it yourself.”

Peggy Joy looked at her friend dumbfounded.  She could think of nothing to say.

Ruby Lee continued to stare out at the swaying wild flowers and said,  ‘So, I studied on-line, and got a bunch of books on Cancerous Skin Growth Removal Surgeries.  I bought the tooth numbing liquid you can get over the counter, and other First-aid supplies, and anti-scarring materials I needed.  I got out the Electric Dremel Tool I use to carve my Art Pieces with, decided on the drill heads I was going to use, and I carved that Cancer right off of my face.”

Peggy Joy blanched.

Ruby Lee finally looked over at Peggy Joy again. “So, I took that Cancerous Growth off all by my lonesome, and it only cost me $25.00 dollars, and bearing up to some pain to do it.”

“I’m sick of being taken advantage of, Peggy Joy.  This whole ordeal has changed me.  And if that Growth comes back or any other Growth for that matter, I’ll plug in my trusty ’ole Dremel Tool again, and get to work,”  Ruby Lee said emphatically.

“You know those little Dremel Tools are amazingly handy to have around.  I think I’ll write the company and tell them so,”  Ruby Lee said gratefully.

Peggy Joy continue to stare in disbelief and concern at her Transformed friend.  She nodded in affirmation, and said softly, “Yes, amazingly handy, Ruby Lee.”

A young Mockingbird landed on a Tree limb just above Ruby Lee and Peggy Joy’s heads and broke out into a beautiful Melody.

“Ruby Lee looked up into the boughs of the Oak Tree and spotted the Bird.  “You know, some Native Americans believe that the Mockingbird symbolizes the Sacred Song of the Soul.  That Little One has sure found his, ha !”

Ruby Lee smiled at Peggy Joy and said, “Wouldn’t it be something special is every Living Creature could find their Sacred Soul 

Song ?”

Peggy Joy returned her friend’s smile and said, “The most special thing of all, dear friend.  The most amazingly special thing of all.”