a sad day

This week was a week none of us want. One of my favorite clients, a young vibrant beautiful woman, came in to see me and was 15 minutes late. I had been running 35 minutes behind all day, and had just caught up when she came in at the same time as my next client. I was joking around and said "what the heck? lets go! you're late, come and change!" and then I saw her face! sad, pale and in pain. she was sitting in our reception area with her friend (also a client) and I realized she was holding a block sponge against her chest. she tried to get up and winced in pain... it was then I realized she had just had a large section of her breast removed just 2 days before. As our appointment progressed, she told me she had to come in because a beloved uncle had died suddenly, and she got a phone call about the funeral, just minutes before receiving another call from her surgeon telling her they didn't get all the cancer...they have to go back in. Its been 3 days and I still feel horrible. One of the amazing things about my job is that I can bring a little happiness to people at horrible times.. I smoothed out her beautiful long hair and made her look beautiful.. Her smile was fleeting, but it was there when she looked in the mirror before she left.