Excellent Unhappy birthday girl cheered by greetings Duty Calls-10 Minutes Well Spent by Elizabeth Emerald Artwork by VMarguarite at FanArtReview.com

The one birthday I unfailingly remember is Sandra's. For the 14 years I've known her (as a fellow food-pantry volunteer) Sandra has never failed to (repeatedly) remind me, and whichever unfortunate bystanders are in ear-SHOUT, that her birthday is April 16th. Sandra is not, euphemistically speaking, well-liked. She is infamously whiny and utterly self-absorbed. Sandra (don't dare call her "Sandy") is a consummate sour-puss. If you don't acknowledge her birthday, she'll sulk.  If you give her a present that she doesn't like (and guaranteed, she won't), she'll say so. Don't expect a reciprocal card; as far as Sandra is concerned, a birthday is a birthright that belongs to her alone. Did I say "utterly" self-absorbed? Scratch the modifier. Better yet, scratch the whole thing. In fact, Sandra has long been wholly absorbed in the single-handed care of her ailing parents. (Her demented father died last year.) Sandra's only respites have come (dis)courtesy of her own sundry surgeries: a couple of cancers here and there, as well as a bilateral (prophylactic) mastectomy, and a (benign) brain tumor.  I called Sandra this afternoon to acknowledge her birthday. I didn't spew insipid words of cheer; I knew that her birthday would not be a happy one. I was right. Sandra regaled me with her latest surgical travails; stones removed from the left kidney, the right one pending excavation. Next up: spinal fusion. Sandra relayed her news matter-of-factly then turned her focus to my welfare. She thanked me profusely for bringing cheer to her day.  (Did I say whiny? Scratch that.)   Recognized Author Notes Celebration! by VMarguarite on FanArtReview.com THANK YOU!

© Copyright 2024. Elizabeth Emerald All rights reserved. Elizabeth Emerald has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.