Elle Vampa

Assumptions will be the death of me, I swear.

Well, those and my dad.

As it goes in small places (such as where I live), faces become familiar quickly, and before you know it you’ve become a local celebrity.

This woman runs a well-visited liquor store with her husband, who fell sick a few years ago (The Big C), but who miraculously recovered.

Seeing her cry openly in the streets while talking to a friend, my father assumed her husband was back on a downwards spiral, and shared his deductions with me.

Now you know the background story, let’s get to my Weekly Loss.

Working an incredibly quiet evening shift, every distraction from observing the clock’s lack of movement was a good one. And so, as the doors to the store opened, I found myself (literally) swivelling around to greet my customer.

It was the liquor store lady. And she looked a mess. Something was up. Something horrible.

The way she spoke to me made it clear she assumed I knew her story, and with my dad’s voice ringing in my ear, I Assumed The Worst: her husband must have died.

Both on the brink of tears, I decided to share my favourite quote in times of loss:

Sometimes it is better to lose something, than to never have had it in the first place

Unknown

The look she gave me was not what I’d expected: if anything, she seemed confused.

That’s when she told me about her physical tests earlier that week and her agony of awaiting the results.

This woman had not just lost her husband: she had herself entered the horrendous world of cancer.

I’ve messed up quite some things this week, including several really-too-silly-to-make-mistakes.

But this one…

Assumptions. I swear they’ll kill me one day.

(But thank goodness they didn’t really kill her husband.)